Redbreast 12 Year Cask Strength

Redbreast 12 Year Old Cask Strength Irish Whiskey

The final St. Patty’s Week Irish Whiskey review is for Redbreast 12 Year Old Cask Strength.  I have had both the Redbreast 12 and the Redbreast Lustau before, but not the Cask Strength.  The standard 12 Year Old is great, but my only qualm is the 40% ABV it’s bottled at.  The Lustau, for those that do not know, is a NAS whiskey (rumored to be made from 9-12 year old juice), that is then finished in Oloroso sherry casks.  I really liked the Lustau as well (bottled at 46%) and will have to pick up another bottle down the road for reviewing purposes.   I am excited for the Cask Strength version to see what the Redbreast tastes like in its raw form without being watered down to 40%.  Let’s see how it goes.

Batch B1/21

ABV: 56.3%

How it smells…..bright, cinnamon, buttery, red apples, very autumnal…a dab of water and it’s a bit sweeter and a bit more malty.

How it tastes…..Starts off sweet followed by some fruit and maltiness ending with some pepper.  With the finish, your breath says cinnamon and your tongue says pepper….with a dab of water, it’s a bit more manageable.  Starts off with honey followed by gingersnap cookies with the end more of a cinnamon roll.  The cinnamon continues in the finish, like chewing Big Red gum.

Price….the place I purchased the bottle usually has it for $100 but I bought it on a St. Patty’s Day sale for $80.

Rating….🥃🥃🥃🥃

Final thoughts…..Before we get into what I liked about this, let’s take a deeper dive into how Redbreast makes its whiskey.  

The Redbreast whiskeys are made from a mash bill using both malted and unmalted barley, sourced mainly from the Munster region near the distillery.  Once the wash is fermented, it is then triple distilled, as is typical with Irish Whiskey (and some Lowland Scotch).  This differs a bit from a Single Malt Scotch, which is  made from a mash bill of 100% malted barley.  The first distillation gets the spirit up to 40% ABV and the second distillation gets the ABV up to 65%-70%, which is where Scotch stops.  However, with Redbreast (and Irish more generally) the third distillation lets the end spirit to be a higher alcohol content, at around 85%.  Why does this matter?  The higher the ABV of the distillate, the more of the esters, oils and fats get stripped from the distillate so the lighter the whiskey will end up.  There are some other factors that come into play including the shape of the still, but we can get into that at a later date.  After the 85% ABV distillate comes off the still, Redbreast then ages this in ex-Bourbon casks (American Oak) and ex-Oloroso Sherry casks (European Oak).  

I really like the original 12 so the Cask Strength for me is even better.  As I am sure you have picked up on in some of my previous reviews, I tend to favor the Cask Strength/Barrel Strength versions of most whiskeys.  Not to necessarily drink at full proof, but to add a bit of water on my own to get it to a proof that works best for me.  Tasting and enjoying anything is subjective to the individual’s own preferences, what’s strong or spicy to someone may be mellow and mild to me.  Providing the drinker the freedom to proof a whiskey down (or not to) opens that bottle’s particular flavor profile up to endless possibilities (ok, not endless, but a lot more possibilities) so I’m willing to pay a bit more for this luxury.  I think 4x 🥃 is appropriate given the price (even undiscounted) for a high-octane cask strength of this quality.   In any case, if you are a fan of Irish whiskey, a fan of spicy whiskey, or a fan of the traditional Redbreast 12, you won’t be disappointed with this version.