Review: Powers Three Swallow Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey
Powers Three Swallow Single Pot Still was released in the US in 2018. It replaced Powers Signature Release which was introduced in the US September 2013. Powers Irish Whiskey has been around since 1791 when James Powers opened the Johns Lane Distillery in Dublin in 1791. Three Swallow was crafted to be a modern expression of what the Original Powers Whiskey tasted like. Single Pot Still whiskey must be made in one distillery with malted and unmalted barley, and that distillery must be in Ireland. Single Pot Still was once the worlds best selling whiskey. Three Swallow is made from a mash of malted and unmalted barley triple distilled in copper pot stills by Irish Distillers at the Middleton Distillery in County Cork Ireland. The whiskey is matured 5-7 years in American Oak Barrel with 3% of the distillate aged in Oloroso Sherry casks. It is non chill filtered before bottling at 86.4 proof. Read more 
Review: Proper Twelve Irish Apple
Proper Twelve Irish Apple was just released. This is not the first apple flavored Irish whiskey. Paddy Devils Apple, a cinnamon apple flavored Irish whiskey, and Mickey Finn Irish Apple were both launched several years ago. Flavored whiskey and Irish Whiskey are two of the fastest growing spirit segments. Jameson has had success with the release of Jameson Cold Brew, and Jameson Orange, and Crown Royal Regal Apple is the worlds second best selling flavored whiskey, only trailing Fireball in yearly depletions. Irish Apple joins the original Proper Twelve Irish Whiskey which launched September 2018 and is already the fourth best selling Irish Whiskey. Connor McGregor worked with Distiller and Master Blender David Elder at The Old Bushmills Distillery in creating Proper Twelve. Connor sampled 100 blends before deciding on the final product. Three years after launching Proper Twelve, Connor and his business partners sold the majority stake to Proximo Spirits for $600 million. Proximo already controlled 49%. Not a bad return on investment. Proper Twelve is made with a sweet Irish grain spirit blended with single malt Irish Whiskey. It is triple distilled and reduced to proof with fresh spring water. Proper Twelve Irish Apple is made with the Proper Twelve whiskey base and natural apple flavors. For every bottle sold a donation is made to first responders around the world. Read more
Review: Lost Irish Irish Whiskey
Lost Irish Irish Whiskey was released November 2021. With St. Patrick’s Day 8 days away we thought it was time to select an Irish Whiskey to review. If your liquor store carries Lost Irish, chances are the glass embossed “Lost Irish” on the bottle will stand out on their shelf. It will also look good resting on the back of your bar. Lost Irish was founded by childhood friends from Termonfeckin Ireland, Neil Sands and Tim Herlihy in partnership with Casa Lumbre. Casa Lumbre is a global spirits company that develops products and incubates premium spirits. Lost Irish is named for the 70 million Irish now living on six continents throughout the world. The sourced whiskey is triple distilled, and is a blend of all three styles of Irish Whiskey, including Grain, Malt, and Pot Still. The whiskey is finished in 7 casks from 6 continents including, South African Brandy Casks, Japanese Mizunara Oak, European Sherry Casks, US Bourbon Barrels, Caribbean Rum Casks, Australian Tawny Casks, and Columbian Rum Casks. To say this is a unique Irish Whiskey is an understatement. Lost Irish was initially released in Illinois, New York, California, and Texas. Additional distribution will follow. Read more
Review: Hinch Small Batch Irish Whiskey
The 30,000 square foot Hinch Distillery opened its doors in 2021. It was built by Dr. Terry Cross on the historic Killaney Estates in County Downs Ireland at a cost of $19 million. County Downs had a strong distilling history from the late 18th century until the early 20th century. It was home to seven Irish Whiskey Distilleries. They are already producing Ninth Wave Gin, and a true grain to glass whiskey that is currently barrel aging. In the mean time they are sourcing their whiskey from another distillery. Hinch Small Batch Irish Whiskey is one of nine Irish whiskies they currently produce. It is made from a blend of 25% single malt and 75% single grain whiskeys and it is matured for 3-4 years in the finest first fill bourbon casks, and bottled at 86 proof. Read more
Review: Jameson Orange
Jameson Orange Irish Whiskey was just released in the US. It was first released in the UK August 2021. Jameson Lime & Ginger was recently launched in Russia. Seems like a curious place to kick off a new spirit from one of the worlds largest whiskey producers. It is made with Jameson Irish Whiskey and natural orange flavor. Jameson Original Irish Whiskey is made from 3 ingredients, barley, both malted and unmalted grown within 100 miles of the distillery, non GMO maize grown in the South of France, and water sourced from the Dungourney River. Jameson is a blend of pot still and fine grain whiskey. Both are triple distilled and aged for a minimum of four years in both used bourbon barrels and Spanish sherry casks. Read more
Review: Dubliner Whiskey & Honeycomb
Dubliner Whiskey & Honeycomb is crafted from a blend of whiskey, honeycomb and caramel at Dublin Liberties Distillery in the heart of the historic Liberties Distilling District. At its peak the five biggest distilleries in Dublin produced 10 million gallons of Irish Whiskey per year. By the mid 1970’s only two whiskey distilleries operated in all of Ireland. Today Irish whiskey is experiencing a renaissance with dozens of new whiskey distilleries opening. The new bottle design of Dubliner Whiskey & Honeycomb reflects the vibrant modern Dublin. Dublin Quintessential Brands spent $11 million to renovate a 400 year old building that was once a tannery and mill into the state of the art distillery and visitor center it is today. Dubliner and The Dublin Liberties brands are produced here from sourced Irish Whiskey while their own crafted triple distilled malt whiskey is barrel aged. Master Distiller Darryl McNally a former Master Distiller at Bushmills Distillery overseas distilling, aging and sourcing of their whiskey. Read more
Review: Dubliner Irish Whiskey
Dubliner Irish Whiskey has recently undergone a facelift with a new modern looking bottle design. Quintessential Brands acquired The Dublin Whiskey Company and the Dubliner Irish Whiskey brand March 2016. The original blend of 20% single malt and 80% grain whiskey, bourbon cask aged for 3 years has not changed. Master Distiller Darryl McNally overseas distilling, aging, and sourcing of all of their whiskey. Darryl was Operations Manager, and Master Distiller at Bushmills Distillery where he worked for 17 years prior to joining The Dublin Liberties Distillery. The Dublin Liberties distillery opened March 2019 in a 400 year old building that was once a mill and tannery. Built at a cost of $11 million they will only produce triple distilled malt whiskey. Master Distiller Darryl McNally is blending sourced Irish Whiskey while his own crafted whiskey matures in barrels. Read more
Review: The Busker Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey
With today being St Patrick’s Day I thought it would be a good time to review The Busker Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey. Irish Whiskey can be distilled as a Single Grain, Single Malt, and Single Pot Still. A quick coarse in Irish Whiskey 101 tells you a Single Grain Irish whiskey is made from unmalted grain from a single distillery. A Single Malt Irish Whiskey comes from malted barley distilled from a single distillery. A Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey is made from a blend of malted and unmalted barley at a single distillery. A fourth type of Irish whiskey is Blended which is made from a blend of malted whiskey from the same or different distilleries. The Busker crafts all four styles. Of my 43 Irish Whiskey reviews my top 2 rated have been Green Spot and Redbreast 12 Year old Single Pot Still, so I guess you can conclude Single Pot Still is my favorite expression. The Busker SPS is made from malted and unmalted barley and pure water sourced from a 70 meter deep aquifer. It is finished in ex-bourbon and sherry casks and non-chill filtered before bottling at 88.6 proof. Read more
Review: The Busker Triple Cask Irish Whiskey
The Busker Triple Cask Irish Whiskey is one of four new expression in The Busker product line that includes all four types of Irish Whiskey. Those are Single Grain, Single Pot Still, Single Malt, and Blend. The Busker Triple Cask is made from a high quality single grain and a very high percentage of single malt and single pot still whiskey. It is triple barrel aged in Marsala casks from Cantine Florio 1833, Spanish Oloroso cask, and American Bourbon casks. The Busker is crafted at Royal Oak Distillery. This distillery originally opened June 2016 as the Walsh Distillery. It was a 50-50 partnership between Bernard Walsh maker of Writers Tears and The Irishman, and Illva Saronna, the Italian Spirit maker of DiSaronno, and Tia Maria. January 2019 Illva Saronna acquired 100% ownership and renamed the distillery. Read more
Review: The Dublin Liberties Murder Lane
The Dublin Liberties Murder Lane is a single malt Irish Whiskey aged for 13 years in first fill bourbon barrels and finished in Tokaj Wine casks. Tokaj wine comes from the Northern Hungary and Southeast Slovakia region. Murder Lane is named for an unnamed alley between Bow Street and James Street in Dublin Ireland. In the early 1600’s many men, women, and children met an unpleasant fate there. It is one of 4 expressions in The Dublin Liberties family of Irish Whiskey. The others include Oak Devil, a 5 year old blended Irish Whiskey. Copper Alley, a single malt Irish whiskey aged for 10 years in first fill bourbon barrels and finished in 30 year old Oloroso Sherry Casks. Finally Keepers Coin, a single malt Irish Whiskey aged for 16 years in first filled bourbon barrels and finished in Pedro Jimenez sherry casks. Read more