Welcome to Nice Sipper
100th Review Celebration
This past review marked the 100th posted to Nice Sipper since starting this site a little over a year ago. To commemorate, I have compiled a montage video to relive all the reviews in a mere 90 seconds. Thank you for being a part of this journey, I look forward to posting the next 100!
Redbreast 12 Year Cask Strength
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.
West Cork Single Malt Aged 12 Years Rum Cask Finished
We will be tasting Glendalough 13 Year Mizunara Finished Single Malt for our fourth Irish Whiskey of the week.
Initially, my good friend mentioned this bottle to me as something he had heard from his local liquor store guy. I remembered reading about this bottle in Whisky Advocate so I bought one the next time I saw one in my own local store. I figured I would crack it when my friend visited next….but things kept coming up and then COVID happened and well, this is my long winded way of saying that this bottle has collected dust, unopened on my shelf for 3+ years now. What better time to crack it open than for my debut St. Patty’s Day Week of Tastings?
Glendalough 13 Year Mizunara Finished Single Malt
We will be tasting Glendalough 13 Year Mizunara Finished Single Malt for our fourth Irish Whiskey of the week.
Initially, my good friend mentioned this bottle to me as something he had heard from his local liquor store guy. I remembered reading about this bottle in Whisky Advocate so I bought one the next time I saw one in my own local store. I figured I would crack it when my friend visited next….but things kept coming up and then COVID happened and well, this is my long winded way of saying that this bottle has collected dust, unopened on my shelf for 3+ years now. What better time to crack it open than for my debut St. Patty’s Day Week of Tastings?
Yellow Spot 12 Year Old
We will be tasting Yellow Spot 12 Year for our third Irish Whiskey of the week.
Previously, we reviewed the Green Spot Montelena Cask Finished whiskey. At its core, the Green Spot is a 7-10 year old expression that is aged in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. The Yellow Spot has a similar core, except aged for at least 12 years, with Malaga casks added to the maturation process in addition to the ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks.
Teeling Single Pot Still vs. Teeling Small Batch
Next up for St. Patty’s Week is Teeling Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey.
We reviewed Teeling Small Batch a while back so now we will set our sights (tastes?) on another one of Teeling’s whiskeys, the Single Pot Still. This whiskey is made from 50% unmalted spring barley and 50% malted barley, which was then tripled distilled and aged in a variety of casks including ex-bourbon barrels, virgin American Oak barrels (new barrels), and sherry casks. This particular bottle was bottled in September of 2019.
Jameson Irish Whiskey vs. Jameson Caskmates Stout Edition
The first review of St. Patty’s Week 2022 is the O.G., Jameson Irish Whiskey. In addition to what was posted on Instagram, we will also review the Jameson Caskmates Stout Edition and compare it to the original. Let’s get started…
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. I no longer have the regular Green Spot to use as a baseline, but let’s see how this one goes….
Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey
Continuing on the good-bang-for-your-buck trend, our next review is on an irish whiskey, Teeling Small Batch. The Small Batch is @teeling_whiskey’s core product, which is a blend of both grain and malt whiskey each aged in ex-bourbon barrels. According to the website, this blend is then married in Central American rum casks for up to 12 months. However, the bottle I will be reviewing was bottled in November 2019 and states that it was finished in rum casks for 6 months so perhaps the newer releases have a little longer finish to them, I will have to find one and compare.
Clonakilty Single Batch Double Oak Finished
I started seeing Clonakilty bottles more and more at stores over the past year and I finally picked up a bottle of the Clonakilty Single Batch Double Oak Finished (Batch No. 017 to be exact) a month or so ago. For those that care, the liquor store had a tasting table and the very nice gentleman representing Clonakilty let me try three expressions, the aforementioned Double Oak, the Single Grain and (I think) the Port Finished. For what it's worth, I liked the Double Oak the best of the three.