irish whiskey – grey whisky

Whisky 2021 – 10 – 13

10 – Tamdhu 1991 24yrs 54.4% by Cadenhead

Nose is fruity and full of fruit jelly. Jersey caramels, cream and grassy. Orange blossoms.

Wow the weight on the palate it is thick and rich. Intense apple, grassy, egg white and spice. Cream and caramel.

Finish more spice and a touch of creme patisserie.

3.5/5 Stars

11 – Irish 21yr 1998 by TWA 51.3%

Nose is peach tea and mango. Almonds and milk chocolate. Liquorice and interestingly the slight saltiness of soy sauce?!

Palate is all juicy dried peaches and peach ice tea. Leads to green grass, LPG and cream.

Finish is like sitting under an almond tree in the sun eating toast with peach jam.

4/5 Stars

12 – Port Ellen 1983 27yrs by Duncan Taylor cask 672 49.4%

Nose is seawater and plums. Bruised apples and seaweed. Flinty. Pineapple jelly, pear juice and caramel.

Palate is super complex. Beautiful Fruit and peat and minerality. Iodine, burnt bacon and juicy tropical fruit.

Finish is long… seaweed, iodine, and bacon and scallop sandwiches with lingering diluted stone fruit.

4.5/5 stars

13 – Springbank 25 2020 bottling

Nose is peppery and fruity (topical and stone fruit). Burnt butter porridge and pineapple. Seaside pier wood.

Palate is fresh cut apricots and bruised apples, brambles. It has leather and salt. It’s pretty flinty, and has good oyster shell. I wanted a little more it felt a touch light.

Finish is buttery and funky in only the way Springbank can do with wood and spice.

4.5/5 Stars

Whisky 2018 – 164-162 – Whisky Agency 10th Anniversary Tasting

164 – Ben Nevis 1996 21yo Hogshead, 50.3%
Nose – lemon, citrus, cake mix, marzipan, orange fizz,
Palate – cream, salt, vines, bitter caramel
Finish – cream, sea salt, toffee

165 – The Perfect Dram Irish Whiskey 1989 28yo Barrel, 49.9%
Nose – leather, wooden boxes, rosemary, snickers bar
Palate – sun dried peaches, almond shells, salted butter, passion fruit
Finish – cream, butter, brown sugar, dried apricots

166 – Speyside Region 1979 38yo Barrel, 43.4%
Nose – caramels, stonefruit, glue, old paper, red apple skins, peach melba, orange jelly
Palate – sweat, sulphur, toffee, Xmas spice, juicy
Finish – cream, fruit syrup

167 – Speyside Region 1973 44yo Butt, 48.6%*
Nose – cream, glue, match heads, grilled peaches, mint, caramel, crystallized violets
Palate – apple crumble, ice cream, dried apricots, cold salted butter, mango ice, condensed milk
Finish – cream, cream, toffee apple, woody, fruit mince pie

168 – Highland Park 1999 18yo Hogshead, 51.7%
Nose – honey, salt, boiled oranges, green bananas
Palate – chalky, fire place, brown sugar, shortbread, salt, bitter caramel
Finish – match heads, rubber,

169 – Bruichladdich Heavily Peated (Port Charlotte) 2003 14yo Sherry, 52.9%
Nose – honey, smoked sweet paprika, melted butter, cheese and bacon Cheetos
Palate – pepper, smoked beef fat, rotten eggs, bruised apples
Finish – rock in a fire, chalk, medicinal

170 – Springbank 1996 21yo Hogshead, 50.3%
Nose – green peanuts, roses, roast chicken, caramels, apricot jam, cream, eggy pudding
Palate – cream, medicinal, Xmas minced fruit, salted butter, cloves, honeydew
Finish – matchsticks, brine, bruised apples

171 – Springbank Peated Type (Longrow) 1996 21yo Hogshead, 50.9%*
Nose – peanut butter icecream, glue, fresh dough, pepper, poached pear, chicken skin
Palate – smoked chicken, apricots, salt, nori, flowers in the country
Finish – brine, chicken skin, slight medicinal

172 – Irish Single Malt 28 Years “Black Irish” 42.4%
Nose – flat coke, cream, tropical fruit, woody, maple syrup on French toast
Palate – Maraschino cherries, liquorice, super dried out peaches, oden eggs
Finish – cream, loads of dried stone fruit and spice

Whisky 2018 – 92-96 – Teeling Tasting with Jack Teeling

92 – Teeling Blended Small Batch 46%
Nose – Cream, peach Melba, gentle caramel, pressed berries, malty
Palate – green fruit leaves, cream, dates,
Finish – white peaches, salty

93 – Teeling Single Grain 46%
Nose – egg custard, creme brûlée, rose water, crystallized violets, tinned pineapple
Palate – creamy, acetone, rhubarb, cardamom ice cream
Finish – short bread, cream, diabetic ice cream

94 – Teeling Single Malt 46%
Nose – green white peaches, cream, grilled pineapple, umeboshi
Palate – brown bread, apricot jam, vines, cultured butter
Finish – creamy, chewy, vegemite, red wine stewed pear

95 – Teeling Brabazon Bottle 49.5%
Nose – caramels, heavy sherry, candied fruit, lemons, honey, peanut brittle
Palate – soapy, caramel, stone fruit, lemon zest, honey,
Finish – chewy, licorice chews, peaches

96 – Teeling Revival Volume 4, 15 Years
Nose – raspberries, lemonsip, dried peaches, dried apricots,
Palate – honey, butter cream, shaving cream, peaches and cream, peach jelly
Finish – honey, coffee, slight old rubber

Whisky 2017 – 212-214

A whisky tasting to help bring me out of my funk – concentrating on the nose and palate was very good for my head. These three were really special drams, thanks to Yao and Cennon at the Elysian for looking after me.

212 – Signatory Glenlivet for thewhiskybarrel.com 10th Anniversary 2006 11YO Cask #900552 *
Chocolate, dried apricots, marshmallow, crushed ants, cloves, menthol, mint, perfume. Cream, and grilled fruit, chocolate, sarsaparilla, caramel sauce, tomato paste, soy sauce, rose petals, raspberries.

213 – The Chess “White King” Macallan Shinanoya 1995 20 Years *
Toffee apples, lemons and oranges, terry’s chocolate orange, mint, marzipan, uncooked pastry. So big, dusty caramels, loads of cream and vanilla, crushed ants, mint slice biscuits, creme brûlée, toasted wood, cream and strawberries, pavlova, white peaches, tarte tatin.

214 – Kintra Whisky Undisclosed Irish Distillery 14 Years Sherry Hogshead Cask 10834
Plastic, hazelnuts, pop corn, sherry fino, apple sauce. Pop corn, corn chips, sulphur, peanuts, really old apricots, chocolate, green chili, chocolate and prunes.

Whisky 2017 – 172-175

Quite an eclectic mix of whiskies here… all were excellent. How good are single cask Teeling?

172 – The Single Cask Bowmore 2001, 14 years Cask 31931
Banana, malty, band aids, yeasty, proving bread, butter, cream, caramel. Salt, burning grape vines, peaches, preserved lemons, chocolate, lantana, short bread, passion fruit, clear sugars, wonderful mouthfeel, orange zest.

173 – Kingsbury Mhain Baraille 1980 35 Years Blended
Glue, hobnobs, leather, raspberry jelly, hand cream. Cream, passionfruit vine, dried pineapple, pavlova, freeze dried apple. So tasty.

174 – Kavalan Solist Port Cask, Cask 0090908028A 59.4%
Brown sugar, peaches, cocoa, glue, Nutella, apricots, coffee, old butter, maple syrup, boot polish. Woody, stone fruits, glue, melted butter, iced coffee, dried apricots, pine, mushroom pate.

175 – Three Rivers Teeling 23 Year Old Cask 6821
Very dried peaches, leather, shaving cream, sarsaparilla, wood glue. Cream, beef jerky, passion fruit, chocolate, old shoe leather, cream, salt, rubber, pink pepper corns.

Whisky 2015 – 169-170

169 – Suntory Royal (Maybe an 80s bottling)
Toffee, malt, slight vanilla, pineapple cake, chestnuts, stewed apricots and tobacco. Caramel, earl grey tea, mango and tropical fruits.

170 – Palace Bar 14 Year
Hay, green vines, passionfruit, coffee, green bananas, gasoline. Bananas, mangos, slight bitter notes, grilled nectarines, white peach, sour cream and crepes.

Whisky (Whiskey) 2015 – 134-136

134 – Tullamore Dew Whiskey 12 Sherry Cask
Banana, caramel, marshmallows, slight citrus, yeast. Spice biscuits, gooseberry, stone fruits, passion fruit, dried tea leaves.

135 – Teeling 23 Years Vintage Reserve Cask 6836
Grilled peaches with maple syrup cream, dried peach, apricot square, musk, wood. Peaches+++, slight rubber, maple sugar, blossoms, pollen, coffee trifle, iced tea. One of the best for this year.

136 – Teeling Single Cask 1159 White Burgundy
Yeasty bread dough, brown bread, white peaches, underripe apricots, lemon drizzle cake. Stewed peaches, blue vein cheese, passion fruit (& vine), brown bread.

Whisky 2015 – 30-32

30 – Nikka 17 Taketsuru

Chestnut flour, cola and vanilla. Green grass, cola, salt, vanilla. Too underpowered for me.

I had a look at my notes from last year on this one: ‘Honey, toffee, easy. Vanilla and some cola to finish. Not much too it to be honest.’ Glad I’m sorta consistent.

31 – Redbreast Single Pot Still 21

An incredible nose. Tropical fruits (mangos, lychees) with cream, dust, carob, chocolate, yoghurt. Tropical fruits, long passionfruit, oyster shell, bracken, fresh yeast.

32 – SMWS 123.8 In the Spanish mountains

Plump raisins, orange zest, brown sugar and hay. Dried peaches and figs, iced tea, milk chocolate, chewy meringue and vanilla cream.

Whisky 2015 – 19-21

19 – Nikka Coffey Grain
Underwhelming compared with the Malt some candy sweetness but for me little complexity something like spearmint lollies and glue. A bit of chocolate and vanilla on the palate.

20 – Nikka Coffey Malt
Chocolate banana lollies and a slight cola note – love the nose on this thing. Choccy-nana pud, cloves, pepper and powdered ginger.

21 – Connemara Turf Mor
Lovely caramel behind the peat, stone fruits and dried pears. Reminds me of Caol Ila smokey peanuts but then a lovely juicy fruit hit and finally some mushroom earthiness. Must drink more Irish whiskeys.