Beverage of the Week - Redbreast 12-Year Pure Pot Still Irish Whiskey

For my birthday this year, my wife and my parents finally came to there senses and just bought me whiskey. It's the no-fail option. Ironically, though, they bought me the same whiskey. Now, I've always had a lukewarm relationship with Irish whiskey. The older Jameson's are nice, but I've never really ran into an Irish I'd go out of my way for. Irish whiskey always seems to be aiming for unassuming - and that's not me.

But I've been really, really pleasantly surprised by Redbreast.

First, some background. Irish whiskey is a pretty loose term - unlike Scotch or Bourbon, basically any grain can be used and any aging method is fine, so long as it's aged three years and Irish born and bred.* Redbreast is a "pure pot still" whiskey, meaning there's no grain mixed in (unlike all other Irish whiskey but Green Spot).. There's likely blending of different ages and maturations, though, making this more akin to a vatted malt than a single malt. Irish whiskey (Redbreast included) is also almost always triple distilled, where Scotch is only generally only distilled twice. This in part accounts for the smoothness of Irish whiskey and the greater complexity of Scotch - there are more fermentation products sneaking in that bottle of Lagvulin than the Bushmill's.

Back to the bottle at hand. The nose has light pepper, honey, and caramelized milk. The palate has prominent sherry, cake, a little lemony toffee, and just a dash of pepper. On the whole very mild, very smooth, but with some real depth and complexity - unlike pretty much any other Irish but Middleton and some of Bushmill's older bottles. There's a little oiliness as well, and it's a nice touch - it draws out the finish, without being overbearing like younger Laphroig can be (if you aren't accustomed to it). The bottom line - this is smooth, easy-drinking whiskey with enough depth to still interest the connoisseur.

If you like whiskey, you'll really enjoy this. But if you like Jameson, Bushmill's, or even Canadian Whisky, you'll love this stuff. 7.5 out of 9.