Green Spot Irish Whiskey Finished in Zinfandel Wine Casks
The Green Spot Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey is a nice little Irish Whiskey with a long history. My first bottle(s) of it were purchased 6-7 years ago and I burned through them pretty quickly. This particular expression was finished for 12 months in Zinfandel wine casks from Chateau Montelena, a Calistoga, Napa Valley, vineyard. The Green Spot is a NAS whiskey blended from 7-10 year old ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. According to Vivino, Montelena’s Zinfandel is bold with lots of oak, vanilla, and both black and red fruits. Now for those that may be concerned, I typically do the research into the cask finishes and the mash bills and all of that fun stuff well after I do the tasting as I do not want to be persuaded by preconceived notions of what something “should” taste like. In other words, I’d rather be blissfully ignorant.
I no longer have the regular Green Spot to use as a baseline, but let’s see how this one goes.
ABV: 46%
How it smells….caramel, confectioners sugar, butterscotch, green apples, and marshmallows. So basically, a sugar bomb.
How it tastes…starts off fruit forward with berries and cherries followed by vanilla and some tart citrus notes. Ends in sweetness with a bit of rye bread that transitions to peppery spice lingering on your tongue and some maltiness coating your mouth.
Price….This is going to be difficult. I purchased it on sale for $60 but it was regularly priced at $100 (at the time). Now the same store is selling it for $125…
Rating...🥃🥃(🥃)(🥃🥃) (it’s complicated, see below)
Final thoughts….I find this to be very very good. How to rate it will be more challenging based on the disparate price points I listed above, so I am going to cheat and give you 3 ratings. My wife absolutely loved this one and as I noted on my Instagram post, she had a lot to say about this and I was quick enough with my pen to record some of her candid feedback.
Mrs. Nice Sipper says….
“Absolutely delightful!.....This doesn’t assault my senses….Amazeballs!....I give it 5x, I don’t care what you paid for it…Its smell finally translates to its taste….I would take this to a desert island with me…”
Mrs. Nice Sipper’s endorsement aside, this is a very nice combination of sweetness, fruitiness, citrus/tart, malty richness, and spice. A truly enjoyable sip. My ratings based on the various price points are:
$60: 5x 🥃
$99: 3x 🥃
$125: 2x 🥃
At my highly discounted price, this is a steal, whereas the normal price is about right. However, the $125 is just a bit too much for what you are getting.
For those that are interested, the Spot Whiskeys have a few releases. The newer Blue Spot is a stated 7 year old, that is a Cask Strength, the likes of which I have yet to see anywhere. The core Green Spot product is a blend of 7-10 year old Irish Whiskey. The Green has a couple of cask finishes, of course the Chateau Montelena which we just reviewed, but also a Château Léoville Barton Bordeaux wine cask finish. The Yellow Spot is aged 12 years while the Red Spot is a 15 year old aged in ex-American bourbon casks, ex-Spanish sherry butts, and ex-Sicilian Marsala wine casks. While I haven’t had the Yellow yet, I did split a bottle of Red with some friends and it was delicious.
I don’t know about you, but I think Mrs. Nice Sipper has just greenlit my next purchase of either the Yellow or the Léoville Barton finished Green. What do you think?
