Another week and another whiskey, or rather 4 whiskeys. Introducing The Busker Irish Whiskey. Released all at one, 4 brand new expressions from the Royal Oak Distillery Carlow. Click above for the link and hear my thoughts on this rather interesting brand and flavorsome whiskey! As always kindly like and subscribe and I will see you next Wednesday for your fill of Whisky & Whiskey. Sláinte.
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Hello once again folks, I do truly hope you are all keeping safe and well during these very difficult times. As for the boredom, well I hope you’re doing something to keep yourselves busy – expanding your knowledge base, learning new skills, taking up new hobbies etc. Me, well I started a new Youtube channel based around all things Irish whiskey. The setting up of which has taken up a considerable amount of time and has taken me away a little from updating the blog itself. So, with a spare day or two this week I decided to do something I put on the long finger back in June.
This is not my own work, rather the information provided in a Facebook video to the members of the group The Friends of Midleton, from Tommy Byrne. Tommy is a tutor at The Irish Whiskey Academy at Midleton Distillery co Cork. In said video, Tommy walks through 14 different single cask releases from Redbreast Irish Whiskey and breaks down the distillation types, as well as maturation methods for each of the single casks. I have merely written them down and logged them here for future reference should anyone need and information or tasting notes on each of the Single casks.
I would very much like to keep this updated as time progresses on, so if you do have information that is not readily available and pertains to the above, kindly email Info@thewhiskeychaser.ie and I will update the relevant information here. If you feel there is information that may be useful/missing to the post, kindly pass it on. There is a great community of people out there and we should all share the knowledge.
Where possible I will also link to websites that still have the bottles for sale, as well as its associated reference page on Whiskybase.com .
Sláinte, Brian.
** First ever Redbreast Single Cask to be released in Ireland**
Distillation year – 1999
Bottling year – 2016
Bottle Yield – 534
ABV% – 58.5%
Distillation Type: “MOD POT STILL” (Creamy & Fruity)
WhiskeyBase – Click Here
Maturation: Full-term first filled Sherry butt
Tasting Notes
Nose: At first sweet Olorosso fruits, powerful but balanced. Mangoes, papaya, and bright fresh zesty oranges.Floral notes on top. Later on the stewed apples and raisins, oak, and leather varnish. Toasted Almonds.
Palate: Thick, oily, and mouth-filling. Chewy and spicy with some more rum-like touches. Flavors of roasted nuts, caramel toffees, licorice, orange peel, old oak, Oloroso sherry, leather, and dark chocolate.
Finish: Very long with a rich spiciness.
Distillation year – 2001
Bottling year – 2018
Bottle Yield- 540
ABV%- 59.7%
Distillation Type: Midleton “Light Pot Distillate” (Full Bodied)
WhiskeyBase – Click Here
Maturation: Full-term first filled Sherry butt
Tasting Notes
Nose: Succulent dried fruits drift upwards and delight the senses while a soft note of chocolate starts to shine through with a toffee, liquorice, and old leather aroma which all marry so well together.
Palate: Again the dried fruits shine through along with some nice spiciness and sweet notes. Tobacco leaf, candied orange, chocolate, and thick molasses offer plenty of depth and a lovely plum jam note just finishes this off in style.
Finish: Very long with incredible hang time. Sweet treacle toffee notes with a coffee note underlying in the back. Very complex and oily, beautiful.
Distillation year – 2002
Bottling year – 2018
Bottle Yield- 570
ABV%- 58.7%
Distillation Type: Midleton “Light Pot Distillate” (Full Bodied)
WhiskeyBase – Click Here
Maturation: Full-term first filled Sherry butt
Tasting Notes
Nose: Full and rich with a luscious texture, that evolves as the spice continues to build on the oak tannins. lime zest with additional layers of flavor.
Palate: The initial delicate aroma of raisins and prunes quickly moves across the spectrum to a zesty lime character with deep rich notes of wood, leather, and coffee.
Finish: Rich and lingering with the pot still spices slowly fading allowing the toasted oak to continue until the very end.
** First ever Redbreast Single Cask to be released **
Distillation year – 1999
Bottling year – 2015
Bottle Yield- 576
ABV%- 59.9%
Distillation Type: Midleton “MOD POT STILL” (Creamy & Fruity)
WhiskeyBase – Click Here
Maturation: Full-term first filled Sherry butt
Tasting Notes
Nose: Rum-soaked raisins and millionaire’s shortbread. With time in the glass, it becomes darker, like thick treacle.
Palate: At first there is toffee and 85% dark chocolate. Autumnal fruits and dry leaves, figs, and currants. A heavy meaty note emerges, like hot Bovril.
Finish: The flavor of cold-pressed coffee with cracked black pepper coats the tongue.
Distillation year – 2001
Bottling year – 2017
Bottle Yield- 582
ABV%- 60.2%
Distillation Type: Midleton “Light Pot Distillate” (Full Bodied)
WhiskeyBase – Click Here
Maturation: Full-term first filled Sherry butt
Tasting Notes
Nose: A bundle of dried dark fruits, sultanas, figs, and blackberries packed into an old-school pipe tobacco box. Dark chocolate, black cherries, and toasted wood. With water, rich ginger and cinnamon spice come through.
Palate: All about the caramel and fudge, with hazelnut, cashew, and walnut notes and dried fruits in abundance. Water brings out the chocolate, bread-and-butter pudding quality, and a real rich creaminess.
Finish: Long and decadent, with oak spiciness and blackberry, apricot, and cherry notes lingering on.
Distillation year – 1991
Bottling year – 2016
Bottle Yield- 624
ABV%- 53.0%
Distillation Type: Midleton “Trad Pot Still Distillate” (Oily & Creamy)
WhiskeyBase – Click Here
Maturation: INFORMATION REQUIRED!!
Tasting Notes
Nose: Full-bodied and sweet. With great beauty, the initial nose is marked by candied fruit (apricot), citrus fruit (orange, clementine), toffee, and spices (ginger, cinnamon). It develops into notes of beeswax, date, and heady florals. Its very sunny character is underscored by a remarkable fruity and chocolate bitterness.
Palate: Lively, clean. The palate is much more Irish than the nose, with a particularly exotic attack (mango, passion fruit). With sweetness, the mid-palate develops into more jammy fruit flavors (red currant, blackcurrant). Spices (clove, nutmeg) then ensure a spirited tempo. The preciously woody end of the palate is also marked by notes of varnish. Its remarkable concentration is particularly impressive.
Finish: Long, energetically alternating between moments of pure sweetness (quince jelly, vanilla cream) and mouth-watering, almost saline, bitterness. At the end of the palate, pressed oranges refresh the palate and make for long-lasting, incredibly classic flavors. The retro-nasal olfaction is deliciously honeyed (lime blossom, heather) and the empty glass roasted and spicy (ginger, cinnamon).
Distillation year – 2001
Bottling year – 2017
Bottle Yield- 600
ABV%- 58.6%
Distillation Type: Midleton “MOD POT STILL” (Creamy & Fruity)
WhiskeyBase – Click Here
Maturation: Full-term first filled Sherry butt
Tasting Notes
Nose:
Palate:
Finish:
Distillation year – 1991
Bottling year – 2017
Bottle Yield- 630
ABV%- 53.2%
Distillation Type: Midleton “Trad Pot Still Distillate” (Oily & Creamy)
WhiskeyBase – Click Here
Maturation: 20 Years in First fill Bourbon Barrels – 5 Years in First Fill Sherry Butt
Tasting Notes
Nose:
Palate:
Finish:
Distillation year – 1998
Bottling year – 2017
Bottle Yield- 648
ABV%- 55.7%
Distillation Type: Midleton “Light Pot Distillate” (Full Bodied)
WhiskeyBase – Click Here
Maturation: 11 Years in First fill Bourbon Barrels – 8 Years in 1st fill Lustau Sherry butT from Bodegas Lustau
Tasting Notes
Nose: Dried figs, dates and plums. An array of spices come out: cinnamon, coriander, pepper, thyme, nutmeg and savory. Leather and tobacco notes. Vanilla beans.
Palate: Creamy, oily and not a bit shy. The spices from the nose carry through to the palate. Then come raisins and figs and some of the harsh spiciness. Dark chocolate cocoa, toasted espresso powder, toffee sweets, old leather.
Finish: A very long, dry, and spicy finish with multiple layers of complexity.
Distillation year – 1998
Bottling year – 2019
Bottle Yield- 576
ABV%- 57.7%
Distillation Type: Midleton “MOD POT STILL” (Creamy & Fruity)
WhiskeyBase – Click Here
Maturation: Full-term 1st Fill Sherry Butt
Tasting Notes
Nose: Mild spicy notes with hints of liquorice intertwining nicely with dried fruits of raisins and prunes while the toasted wood adds further character and structure to the whiskey, along with a sweetness that compliments the fruit and spice.
Palate: Long and rich. The spices remain until the very end while the toasted wood and fruit notes slowly fade over time.
Finish: A very long, dry, and spicy finish with multiple layers of complexity.
Distillation year – 1991
Bottling year – 2018
Bottle Yield- 618
ABV%- 53.9%
Distillation Type: Midleton “Trad Pot Still Distillate” (Oily & Creamy)
WhiskeyBase – Click Here
Maturation: 17yrs First Fill Bourbon Casks – 8yrs First Fill Sherry Butt
Tasting Notes
Nose: Initial bang of exotic dried fruits, with a slight hint of dark chocolate and an even slighter hint of coffee, pot still spice, and Antique oak.
Palate: Mouthwatering sweetness and white peppery spice mixed with oily tannins, beautifully balanced nuttiness eventually giving way to a bitter dark chocolate dryness. Strange how I found it went from mouthwatering to dry.
Finish: a lovely balanced bittersweetness combined with that unmistakable redbreast spice. The spice starts out in the middle of the tongue and continues towards the back of the throat. Very well balanced and complex, plenty of oak influence, very more-ish.
Check out my review
Distillation year – 1997
Bottling year – 2017
Bottle Yield- 600
ABV%- 58.2%
Distillation Type: INFORMATION REQUIRED
WhiskeyBase – Click Here
Maturation: Full-term first Fill Sherry Butt
Tasting Notes
Nose: This whiskey has a lovely mix of wood, spice, and dried fruit.
Palate: Aromas and flavours of sultanas, singed oak, leather, dry spices, wood smoke, exotic fruits, dates, and walnuts can be expected.
Finish: A nuttier finish including walnuts and roasted hazelnuts which leads to some citrus peel notes.
** First Single Cask released with new branding**
Distillation year – 2000
Bottling year – 2019
Bottle Yield- 582
ABV%- 59.3%
Distillation Type: Midleton “Light Pot Distillate” (Full Bodied)
WhiskeyBase – Click Here
Maturation: Full-term first Fill Sherry Butt
Tasting Notes
Nose: Initial hints of sweet dried fruits of raisins and dates working in tandem with the delicate pot still spices while the toasted oak adds soft notes of vanilla with mild nutty hazelnut undertones.
Palate: Silky mouthcoating character at first that builds with the spices slowly evolving throughout while a nutty liqueur character lingers in the background with hints of coffee and bitter chocolate.
Finish: The pot still spices and dried fruits slowly fade, allowing the tannins from the oak to linger until the end.
Distillation year – 1991
Bottling year – 2017
Bottle Yield- 600
ABV%- 53.5%
Distillation Type: Midleton “Trad Pot Still Distillate” (Oily & Creamy)
WhiskeyBase – Click Here
Maturation: 17yrs First Fill Bourbon cask- 8yrs First Fill Sherry Butt
Tasting Notes
Nose:
Palate:
Finish:
Distillation year – 2001
Bottling year – 2018
Bottle Yield- 636
ABV%- 59.5%
Distillation Type: INFORMATION REQUIRED
WhiskeyBase – Click Here
Maturation: INFORMATION REQUIRED
Tasting Notes
Nose: the very complex nose can be broken down into five aromatic sequences. 1st sequence: juicy orange, toasted walnut, emery cloth. 2nd sequence: star anise, black pepper, incense, beeswax. 3rd sequence: clove, cane, cumin, mustard, curry. 4th sequence: mango, Cayenne pepper, apricot and apricot stone. 5th sequence: thuja, cedar, flambéed banana, hyacinth, lily. Note that the increase in power is gradual and could not be more harmonious.
Palate: dense, lively. With rare concentration, the attack goes back over the entire fruity palette of the nose, including the apricot stone. Gradually, notes of vanilla, coconut milk, and maple syrup bring lots of creaminess and freshness. On the mid-palate, grains of malted and unmalted barley that rival each other in intensity provides the very definition of a single pot still.
Finish: long, slender. From compote fruits (pear, plum) to red fruits (strawberry, raspberry) and notes of salted butter caramel to flavours of bouquet garni, the start of the finish guides the tasting to notes of tobacco, coffee and gianduja. Both creamy (flan) and tangy (lime), the very end of the palate loses none of this concentration.
Distillation year – 1989
Bottling year – 2020
Bottle Yield- 444
ABV%- 57.2%
Distillation Type: INFORMATION REQUIRED
WhiskeyBase – Click Here
Maturation: 6 yrs First Fill Bourbon barrel, 24 yrs Port Casks
Tasting Notes
Nose: A rich medley of fruits, from sweet mango to fleshy ripe plums to dark berry fruits. The oak adds notes of toasted wood with touches of vanilla, brown sugar and roasted coffee beans along with a mild touch of leather. Pot still spices continue to build and evolve over time adding further depth and complexity
Palate: Initial notes of cinnamon spice and softwood tannins along with exotic fruits and dark berries. Rich mouth-coating texture with sweet notes of vanilla and treacle toffee layered over a toasted oak foundation
Finish: Lingering with the ripe fruits and pot still spices having the final word
Check out my review
Ah yes, it’s that time of the week for me to give you all my unbiased review of some of the greatest whiskey Ireland has to produce. In this week’s episode, we get deep, as in deep pockets, you won’t believe how expensive this Whiskey is!!! Or HOW GOOD it is too! The old-age term “you pay for what you get” may ring true here. Click the link above and check it out for yo self! Don’t forget to like and subscribe to stay up with all the latest Vids I do be posting. Stay safe. Brian
Let’s Jump in with the brand new release from Powers Irish Whiskey. Bottled exclusively for the Friends of Midleton Facebook page, and powers FIRST EVER Cask strength offering.
You’ve undoubtedly heard by now the fuss surrounding this single cask, and if you haven’t, stay reading. Unfortunately, the attention was for all the wrong reasons, it should have never been about the euros €€€…. What they aren’t telling you about The Temple Bar single cask from Redbreast, its F$%^ing good! Very very good!
I am lucky enough to have been able to sample the majority of the single cask range from Redbreast and yea, wow. You are experiencing the very best that Middleton Distillery has to offer, and you could call their single cask range their “showcase” of sorts, or even their “examples of excellence”.
So then why has this particular Single cask had so much attention?
Sadly its price. And at an initial release price of €850 it was out of reach of most whiskey drinkers/enthusiasts. What’s worse is that price changed rather quickly after release and jumped up to an eye-watering €1,250.00, Sigh.
If you’re a fan of Redbreast Single cask releases then you’d know that this far surpasses any other releases to date in terms of price (even when compared to the La Maison Du Whisky 25yr old on the secondary market)! However there’s been a fluctuation of pricing in recent months, from €850 up to €1,250, then down to €750, and then down to €600, annnd now currently at a “sale” price of €550 on The Temple Bars website ( at time of writing).
Still on the high side of the range but nonetheless within reach and of much better value than was previously priced.
I hear you ask , Brian what do I get then if I fork over the €550?
Let me tell you.
You get a 26-year-old, non-chill filtered, Redbreast Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey. Distilled in 1991 and filled in first-fill Bourbon Barrels, left to mature for 17 (ish) years, and then re-casked into a first-fill Sherry cask and left to mature for a further 8 (ish) years, giving a grand total of 26-years maturation. Once bottled the cask yielded a total of 618 bottles at 53.9%ABV.
So is it good?
It’s worth trying for yourself, I’m aware that not everyone has the same palate when it comes to whiskey, but for me, I really enjoyed everything this Single Cask had to offer. Complex, well balanced and so full of flavor it’s insane. My tasting notes:
Visual: Beautiful brown sherry/Treacle
Nose: Initial bang of exotic dried fruits, with a slight hint of dark chocolate and an even slighter hint of coffee, pot still spice, and Antique oak.
Palate: Mouthwatering sweetness and white peppery spice mixed with oily tannins, beautifully balanced nuttiness eventually giving way to a bitter dark chocolate dryness. Strange how I found it went from mouthwatering to dry.
Finish: a lovely balanced bittersweetness combined with that unmistakable redbreast spice. The spice starts out in the middle of the tongue and continues towards the back of the throat. Very well balanced and complex, plenty of oak influence, very more-ish.
To sum up, it really is an incredible expression. Certainly a showcase. And I don’t mean to be “big upping” this whiskey by any means but, when something is good its good and I tend to call it as it is. Just a shame there was so much F&%$ing around with pricing at the start, it got the right attention for all the wrong reasons! Now that it’s at a far more affordable price, I’d highly recommend trying it, even if you bottle share it with friends. After all, sharing is caring…..Sláinte.
In the interest of transparency, I purchased my own Bottle and sample of the above, all opinions are my own and were in no way influenced from any outside parties.