Redbreast Archives - First Pour Cocktails

Redbreast 15 Year Old Irish Whiskey

Posted on March 10, 2023February 20, 2023 by Nick

We started at the entry level with Redbreast 12, before slightly escalating things to their Lustau edition. While three more years are only a quarter of the age of Redbreast 12, they represent a near 100% increase in price when going from the 12 to the Redbreast 15 Year Old Irish Whiskey. Made from exclusively pot still distillate and aged in a mix of first fill and refill casks, can it justify this huge price increase?

Redbreast 15 Year Old Irish Whiskey

Sight: Burnished

Smell: The nose is somewhat subdued, with laces with spices and slight heat. The oak meets pressed apples, with tangy candied notes, and vintage leather. Nuttiness joins in with grapes, preach, touches of floral, and candied plums. The nose has a complex spicing and creaminess to it that under pins things.

Sip: The sip is soft, smooth, and almost lanolin in it’s thickness and character. A soft, ripe apple comes out with plenty of citrus oils. Stone fruits and vintage leather join in. Plum skin and toasted oak come out as well, and the whole thing wraps up with a creamy richness.

Savor: The ending has a beautiful creaminess and light tannic nature. The nuttiness and spice are the primary drivers with plum and peach skins over floral notes.

Redbreast 15 Year Old Irish Whiskey is complex and creamy. The flavors are varied, a bit hard to pin down, but all delicious. As a result, some sips feel malleable and there’s a slight feeling of inconsistency with the variety of fruits, spices, and floral elements. For all these reasons, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable sipper.

In Cocktails

In a Cameron’s Kick the bright apple and plum skin come forward off the bat, and are followed with a nice round citrus mid-palate with an almost fresh nectarine pop. The nuttiness and leather come in toward the backend. There are also good grape notes and touches of floral. It’s well rounded, but doesn’t quite get anywhere near the neat presentation of Redbreast 15 Year Old Irish Whiskey. Basically, don’t put this in a cocktail.

In Review – Redbreast 15 Year Old Irish Whiskey

Redbreast 15 Year Old Irish Whiskey is tasty on it’s own, and does fine in a cocktail. The flavors are on point, rich, and weighty. The question is if they’re twice is good? The answer is unfortunately not quite. At $130 a bottle, Redbreast 15 is more complex than the 12, but doesn’t seem to add enough power to the equation to show where that value is. That said, you might still find a reason if your really going to enjoy each dram neat. For those that want to enjoy a dram, and not over think it, I recommend sticking with the 12 for just past half the price.

Redbreast Lustau Edition

Posted on March 3, 2023February 20, 2023 by Nick

Redbreast 12 led us off, and to follow it up, we’re heading to their Redbreast Lustau Edition. Similar to their Redbreast 12, it starts life being made using a mash of malted and unmalted barley that is triple distilled in copper pot stills. It’s then matured in bourbon seasoned American Oak and Oloroso Sherry seasoned Spanish oak butts for 9-11 years. At that point, the whiskey is aged in used Lustau sherry bottles from Jerez, Spain. The result is a finished Irish whiskey with one of the most prominent producers for sherry for only $10 more than Redbreast 12.

Redbreast Lustau Edition

Sight: Chestnut Oloroso Sherry

Smell: The nose has some heat at the front, but gives way to deep caramel, red apples (both fresh and baked), and plenty of nutty notes. Deep vinous sherry notes come through, and a tangy agrodolce caramel comes out. A toasted sugar and oak mingle with hints of white grape.

Sip: Dark leather, roasted almond, walnut, and slightly burnt creme brulee top comes through. A bitter cocoa powder slides in, before deep white floral notes edge in. The fruits are toned down here, with more dried expressions of stone fruit and plum skin.

Savor: The ending carries forward the vinous sherry notes forward, but gives way to heavy doses of white flowers and floral notes. Almonds and walnuts with some prune join in as well.

Redbreast Lustau Edition is heavily sherried and tastes like it. If you love nutty, floral notes, then there’s things to love in spades here. The nuttiness and creaminess of the body give a lot of depth. The fruit expressions are more preserved and fermented here, but the underlying character maintains the original Redbreast notes. A wonderful little sipper, if heavily sherried.

In Cocktails

In a Cameron’s Kick the nuttiness really elevates – grabbing onto the orgeat right off the bat and adding sweet almond and marzipan notes. The fruitiness sort of pops with the lime, but there’s a bit of bruleed sugar and floral notes. The finish has some floral notes and sweetness toward the end, but the nuttiness lingers.

In Review – Redbreast Lustau Edition

Redbreast Lustau Edition is a nutty Irish whiskey that balanced with a nice amount of complex floral elements. The result is something that nicely balanced, creamy, and with decent depth. If you find you’re not a fan of nuttiness in your whiskey, or sherry finishes, than this one might not be your starting point. However, if you like what Redbreast 12 has to offer, you might find the $10 price difference is worth paying.

Redbreast 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey

Posted on February 24, 2023February 13, 2023 by Nick

Welcome to the start of our Irish Whiskey Month! It’s no secret that the last whiskeys I’ve written about here have been less than thrilling to try, and so this year, we’re going up market starting with Redbreast 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey. Distilled by Middleton, Redbreast 12 is made using a mash of malted and unmalted barley that is triple distilled in copper pot stills. It’s then matured in bourbon seasoned American Oak and Oloroso Sherry seasoned Spanish oak butts. The result is a whiskey that retails for over double our previous bottles, so is it worth it?

Redbreast 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey

Sight: Deep Copper

Smell: Caramel, fresh green apples, marzipan, and red licorice come cascading out in droves. The nose is fruity, with candied raspberry coming forth, and then gets complimented with nuttiness, hints of spice, toasty oak, and a slight hint of alcohol.

Sip: Bright, explosive apple, peach, and creamy candies jump out. Plum, cinnamon, and bursts of spices aren’t far behind. The mouth feel is light, laced with vanilla, and loaded with nuanced creamy, fruity notes.

Savor: The ending has more baked apple, spice, and oak elements. A leather and apple skin note lingers.

Redbreast 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey is frankly nothing short of explosively lovely. The bursts of fruity flavors are clean, clear, and pop brightly. The creaminess of the underlying nectar is just as pleasant, making it smooth and enticing. While the finish isn’t the most complex, what it does, it does particularly clearly and with a robust character. Sipping it is simply a pleasure.

In Cocktails

In A Cameron’s Kick Redbreast 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey delivers the same creamy candy and apple notes. The bright lemon laces with vanilla and subtle peach and stone fruit notes. There’s a beautiful cinnamon and deep red plum skin element that runs over the finish. The subtle nuttiness compliments this all the way through, and there’s a light charred pineapple touch. Overall, it’s a delicious and robust Cameron’s Kick.

In Review – Redbreast 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey

Redbreast 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey is delightfully simple, yet thoroughly detailed in it’s approach. The result is an Irish whiskey that delivers a great neat experience while also simultaneously working well in a cocktail. That brings us to the price. Approaching $70 in some places, Redbreast 12 isn’t cheap, and it may cause you to think twice. That said, compared to all the of the more entry level Irish Whiskey’s I’ve tasted, there is more than double the value here. For that reason, if you have the means, I encourage you try to a bottle of Redbreast (especially at closer to $60 where it can show up from time to time).

If you want to try it without committing, consider trying their Family Collection pack, where you can get 3 50ml bottles representing the Redbreast 12, the Lustau Edition, and Redbreast 15.