Revisiting Ireland, last part of the trip


December 14, 2022

The Durian Effect
Morning. I've got quite a few messages about whiskeys that I've tried yesterday and that some friends just loved, while I did rather not. That's often the case with some (not all, far from that) finishings. In truth I'm always very happy when friends enjoy some spirits while I don't, as I'm certainly not 'right' and you're not 'wrong'. It's only a matter of individual taste, what's more some spirits can be very polarising, not unlike, say durian ;-). Some even say that the way we perceive some flavours and aromas have roots in some genetic traits that some people have while others don't. Scary, isn't it? Anyway, who needs tepid consensus… Some brands have even made that their motto, think Laphroaig and their 'Love It Or Hate It' baseline. I would add what a very well-known independent bottler and now distiller once told me: 'Serge, keep saying it when you don't like a whisky, or no one will believe you anymore when you say you do'. Peace and salut! And now, let's try more Irish… - Serge.

Revisiting Ireland, last part of the trip

A set of four new young multi-grain Irish by Blackwater Distillery, then two fruit bombs from Cooley's and Bushmills'.

Blackwater 'Dirtgrain Mash Bill #08' (45.3%, OB, Ireland, bourbon cask, 1000 bottles, 2022)

It's an interesting concept, Blackwater Distillery have decided to revive old Irish recipes that would have blended various grains, both malted and unmalted. As they've started distilling in 2018, I would suppose this is a three or four years old. Mash Bill #08, inspired by a mash bill from 1908, gathers 50% Gangway + Laureate malt (barley), 35% Laureate barley, and 15% Husky oat. I appreciate that they have not used any wine casks. Colour: pale white wine. Nose: close to earth, close to grains, chalk, breadcrumbs, small apples, melon skin, plus gooseberries and white currants. Some acidity, which I find pleasant. Mouth: it is not a fat spirit, it would start citrusy and on green apples, then rather move towards liquorice wood, zests and fennel. The body would rather gain texture after the arrival, which is a little unusual. Finish: medium, rather grassier but with some barley syrup and sweeter apples in the aftertaste. Golden delicious. Comments: it's an easy whiskey that they've kept all natural.
SGP:441 - 82 points.

Blackwater 'Dirtgrain Mash Bill #15' (44.2%, OB, Ireland, rye cask, 1000 bottles, 2022)

A blend of 40% Laureate barley, 30% Gangway + Laureate malt, 15% Husky oat, 12% Costello wheat and 3% Performer Rye, inspired by a mash bill from 1915 this time. Didn't know Elvis Costello was into cereal (S., please!) Colour: white wine. Nose: this one's a little fatter, a tad more buttery, also with more mineral notes, even a touch of engine oil, then oat cakes and unleavened bread. A little dill too, orange skin… Now the cask was not of the same kind, so I'm not sure comparisons are sound. Mouth: it is rather punchy, with poppy seeds and caraway bread, some small oranges, a small glass of elderberry eau-de-vie or liqueur, very vivid here, flour, tapioca, orange cordial… Quite some action in this one. Not sure I'm finding a lot of rye, perhaps… Finish: longer, bready, a tad drying (tea tannins, oak). Comments: more rustic and raw, while I like rusticity.
SGP:441 - 84 points.

Blackwater 'Dirtgrain Mash Bill #38' (47.1%, OB, Ireland, apple brandy cask, 1000 bottles, 2022)

Made from 40% Laureate barley, 40% Costello wheat and 20% Gangway + Laureate malted barley, inspired by a mash bill from 1838, and aged in apple brandy. I'm not sure it was the most logical way to use wildly different woods as we're not exactly comparing different mash bills, but there, not my business. Colour: white wine. Nose: the fact is, this is lovely, with a much bigger presence, many apples and pears, lime, more elderberries, a little sour wine (muscadet)… Mouth: I'd say the brandy feels, and that this one's much spicier than the others, with some ginger, turmeric, indeed apple peel, then earth and, once again, some elderberry syrup. Great in champagne. Finish: pretty long. It's hard to get that apple brandy out of your head once you know it's been in use. Ginger ale in the aftertaste. Comments: good.
SGP:451 - 83 points.

Blackwater 'Dirtgrain Mash Bill #93' (43.1%, OB, Ireland, sherry cask, 1000 bottles, 2022)

This time it was 46% Laureate barley, 35% Gangway + Laureate malt, 15% Husky oat, 4% peated Laureate malt. I'd bet the peat will feel. Colour: gold. Nose: indeed, distant tyres at first, even fumes, then new electronics, some menthol, fruit bread, branches, pears… Mouth: you would almost say very young Ardmore, with touches of coal and rubber. Lemon, apples, mint, liquorice, eucalyptus. It is incredible that it would be this peaty, unless this sherry cask had previously sheltered Ardbeg or compadres. Finish: rather long, with smoky lemons and some tar. Comments: these Dirtgrains are sold as sets of four different 200ml bottles and do come with an interesting book (a kind of log book) by owner/distiller Peter Mulryan. There's even the score for the famous song, The Parting Glass. Isn't it Scottish?
SGP:453 - 84 points.

Cooley 20 yo 2001/2022 (54%, Whisky AGE for Whisky Picnic Bar, Get Lost in The Whisky and The Whisky Blues, bourbon barrel, cask #3067, 199 bottles)

Colour: white wine. Nose: bags of wine gums and marshmallows, plus some kind of smart healthy juice, perhaps 1/3 mango, 1/3 orange and 1/3 carrot. I'll need to try that. Also a little vanilla, light honey, and fresh mint. We tend to call these 'immaculate'. With water: pure sauvignon blanc, probably one of the best Sancerre, or Chavignol. Mouth (neat): typical so-called fruit-bomb, with massive, really massive notes of mangos, bananas, papayas… This is very spectacular, one of these Cooleys that can be confused with (some) Bushmills malts. The trick of the 'Secret Irish', you know. With water: very extreme fruitiness, almost a little 'too much', if that's possible. Finish: medium, ueber-fruity. We've kept wondering if Haribo weren't secretely owning shares of Cooley (through some tax haven). Comments: fruit bomb alert. Wonderful Cooley.
SGP:740 - 89 points.

An Irish Distillery 30 yo 1990/2020 (53.1%, Archives, for Taiwan, rum barrel, cask #589, 148 bottles)

In theory, this is Bushmills. If I remember well, Diageo had sold many casks before selling the Distillery to Jose Cuervo in 2014, after having bought it from Pernod in 2005 (and failed to buy Jose Cuervo themselves in 2013). Colour: gold. Nose: sure the rum feels and would impart a feeling of meta-blend to this baby. But granted, that's a lovely meta-blend, driven by bananas and some patchouli, plus butter pears and the expected ripe mangos and passion fruits. A little chlorophyl. With water: a few pencil shavings coming out. Mouth (neat): great rumskey. Some camphor and putty coating tropical fruit pastes and a little Japanese bean paste (anko). Papayas and oranges running the show. With water: mangos, blood oranges and passion fruits are fighting back. Some greenness, rucola perhaps? Finish: long, tart, almost acerbic. Rosehip tea. A lot of lime, while the aftertaste is a little rounder again. Comments: unusual and very good. Naturally, retroactively, I would have dumped some Bushmills-to-become-30 into rum wood, but luckily, it all ended very well, even if I like the pure ones better.
SGP:641 - 87 points.

Good, I believe that's enough Irish for this year.

(Thank you KC)

Check the index of all Irish we've tasted so far