ABV: 49.2 %
Origin: Ireland
Type: Blended
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and grainy. At first there’s a thick, sweet center with vanilla, white bread and a dark syrup. Underneath lies a metallic note and on the outside there’s a fresh fruitiness floating around in a thin layer. When it settles it becomes slightly herbal and perfumey and even sweeter. The fruitiness stays on the outside but increases in intensity. It does a pretty good job of hiding the grain notes with the sweetness from the casks, but it never really covers it up in total. It feels a bit rough and unbalanced. This is a so-and-so nose. It lacks both complexity and finess.

Mouth: It starts out with a grain forward sweetness surrounded by the sweetness from the casks. There’s a butterscotch and bread note in the middle with a big shovel of vanilla mixed in. There’s a note of cardboard somewhere within which makes it slightly unpleasant. The fruitiness is a bit weird and even though it can be found, it seems like it’s easy to forget to search for it. It’s mostly baked red apples with a squeeze of lemon at this point, but the suggestive nature of the mind do taste some pinapple. In the back there’s a nice bitter tang which helps it become slightly more interesting.

Finish: In the transition everything leave room for an aromatic and perfumey oak note before the big ball of sweetness returns with the same profile as before. It’s still a bit rough and grain forward. There’s a nice peppery spicyness building up around the edges and the fruitiness is now in the background together with the bitter note. The cardboard returns before everything start to fade. Once again the aromatic oakiness return and it’s quite nice. The late finish is the best part of the journey. This is a decent whisky, but it’s a bit rough and unpleasant underneath the sweet top notes.

Additional information
This whisky was first aged for 6 years in ex-bourbon barrels (grain and malt separately) and then finished for 15 months in ex-Plantation Stiggins’ fancy pinapple rum casks. 3750 bottles were released.

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