Waterford ‘Heritage Goldthorpe’ (50%, OB, 6,500 bottles, 2024)
Distilled using a heritage malt called 'Goldthorpe' apparently, which is immediately appealing to my inner geek (who am I kidding, I'm all geek really). Colour: straw. Nose: a combination of soft yellow and green fruits, mingling with many variations of freshly baked breads, beer trub, meadow flowers and ripe melon with a touch of fir wood. I always associate this kind of profile with a very modern, craft character that you find in many European whiskies these days. With water: juniper and caraway, with a slightly more spicy / bready focus. Mouth: a little more accented towards green fruits, more melon, lemon curd and lemon barley water, and also a notably oily and viscous texture in the mouth. It's a sense of weight and body I often find in whiskies made using non-distilling malts, which is to say: heritage grains with a better balance of proteins and starches that give lower yields but more character. With water: more peppery but also overall softer in the mouth, more lemony notes (limoncello) and more green melon and soft herbal notes. Finish: quite long, on herbs, wildflowers, geraniums, olive oil and hints of hessian canvas. Comments: It's one of the growing numbers of evidential drams that go to show that these kinds of heritage varieties can make extremely good, very textural malt whiskies. I wonder if this sense of body and oiliness will sustain into greater age... 
SGP: 561 - 88 points. 

Waterford ‘Biodynamic Cuvée Luna’ (50%, OB, 2024)
Colour: bright straw. Nose: very pure and precise, much more focussed on spicy pumpernickel bread, young rye whiskies, crystalised citrus fruits, flower honey and even a wee hint of mandarin. With water: an impression of pure barley eau de vie, youthful in the best sense. Mouth: quite a departure from the Goldthorpe, a fruitier profile that's still oily but perhaps not with quite the same textural oomph. Still, the fruitiness, that specific spicy bready charisma and those notes of honeys and crystalised fruits are still pronounced. With water: the spices take centre stage now, a real and assertive pepperiness, with curry leaf, aniseed, hints of chamois leather and salt and pepper crisps! Finish: good length once again, with bitter lemon, muddled herbs and grassy notes. Comments: At times it is brilliantly pure and precise, at others it perhaps stumbles ever so slightly. But this is still excellent, I just prefer the rich and emphatic textural heft of the Goldthorpe by a notch. 
SGP: 551 - 87 points. 

John Power & Son 'Gold Label' (70 proof, OB, 1970s)
This one would have been distilled at the old John Lane Distillery in Dublin, which closed in 1974 whereupon production moved to the Midleton Distillery. This should be pure pot still, if I'm not mistaken... Colour: pale gold. Nose: a freshly opened tin of varnish, some wood glue and all manner of 'old toolbox' aromas. Steel wool, coins, ink, lashings of boot polish and a tiny sprig of mint. It's actually a super fun nose, even if it is probably at tad rough or extreme at times. Although, another way of saying that is that it retains a surprising amount of freshness. Mouth: you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a cheap molasses column still rum. Indeed, it goes a bit funky and overly gluey here. Clearly a product intended for some variation of mixing. Although, you do wonder how much these funkier, gluey and rather extreme varnish notes were magnified by time in bottle? Finish: medium, on candied caraway seeds, sour honey, asparagus, cheap rum, brake fluid - we are in a new dimension now... Comments: always fun to taste these old oddities. This one really drills into these metallic and old toolbox vibes, although I wouldn't say it was 'really bad', but it's certainly whacky and extreme. 
SGP: 571 - 77 points. 

Old Comber 7 yo (70 proof, OB, 1960s)
Colour: bright reddish amber. Nose: hold moly! Another galaxy! A stunning medley of old waxes, hessian cloth, boot polish, camphor, paraffin, pine needles, bone marrow and pristinely preserved, rather fruity old cream sherry notes. Another one that oozes with a sense of fatness, oiliness and texture in the best and most classical 'pure pot' style. What a brilliant nose! Mouth: doesn't quite hold up to the promise of the nose, you feel the bottling strength has hobbled it slightly, and possibly some caramel? But that being said, there's still wonderful notes of waxes and shoe polishes once again. Herbal medicines, wintergreen, old ointments, long-aged green Chartreuse, dried mint, eucalyptus oil and more 'forest' stuff, like chestnut mushrooms and petrichor. Finish: medium length, but beautifully herbal, with a gentle bitterness, some cloves, more herbal cough syrup vibes, even a delicate salty and umami quality creeping in. Comments: amazing Old Comber, a world away from that pretty disappointing OB 30yo bottled around 1990. One of those old bottles that raises many more questions than it answers: what's the true age, what casks were used, was caramel involved? Only the slight softness on the palate will prevent me going to 90, but the nose along was 91-92 territory. 
SGP: 561 - 89 points.

Dunville's Special Liqueur Whisky 'Three Crowns' (70 proof, OB, c1920s)
Colour: pale gold. Nose: a gentler and more refined version of the Comber perhaps? Quite a classical old pure pot still profile with this combination of sooty coal scuttles, metal polish, old coins, ink and hessian. This also has a lovely sense of oiliness about it too, with a touch of grassiness and some bone marrow vibes. Mouth: still nicely within this old school, pure pot profile, with the associated oiliness, sooty and slightly bready characteristics, but there's also quite a bit of old bottle effect in evidence here, with these notes of baked vegetables, sweetened porridge and slightly stale camphor. In time it develops an even funkier side, with these wee notes of brake fluid and cider apple that recall from a distance that Power's. Finish: quite long, on aniseed, cooking oils, marrow, roast turnips and mineral oil. Comments: always fun and a privilege to taste these old historical drams. I think this one has probably declined somewhat in the bottle over many decades, but it remains extremely 'Irish' and full of character. 
SGP: 471 - 84 points.  

Samuel Gelston's 28 yo Single Malt Irish Whiskey (49.1%, OB, bourbon casks)
Most likely Bushmills, I am told, so don't take my word for it. Colour: pale gold. Nose: pure fruit salad territory, that particular profile that so many of these wonderful modern Bushmills and Cooley possess. Pina colada, pineapple pulp, passion fruit, guava, all the pure exotic fruits in vivid focus. In the background that also familiar crisp, NZ sauvignon blanc sharpness. Mouth: pristinely and exuberantly tropical, towards early 1970s Bowmore or Longmorn, with crystalised honeys, lemon icing, crushed nettles, tiny menthol notes that go towards green herbal characteristics. So different from the old pure pot whiskeys, but also extremely 'Irish'. Finish: long, sharp, green, tense and riddled with fruits. Comments: it's arguably simplistic, but you could just drink litres and litres of such whiskey. Another deadly Irish fruitbomb! 
SGP: 741 - 90 points.

Red Spot 31 yo 1991 (57.6%, OB for The Whisky Exchange, cask #50768, bourbon barrel with marsala finish, 516 bottles)
Single, pot still, triple distilled Irish whiskey from the Midleton Distillery. Colour: deep reddish amber. Nose: different again. This goes more towards a subtle, yet old school sherry cask profile - which, indeed, is a character that old Marsala can possess and I suppose transfer to a malt whisky. Some lovely aromas of roasted nuts, leaf mulch, very old cigars in a humidor, pine sap and birch beer. It's an unusual whiskey that manages to be simultaneously earthy and syrupy. With water: it gathers fruitiness now, some pomegranate, date molasses, fig jam etc. Mouth: superb concentration and power upon arrival. This really sits closer to the old pure pot whiskeys, it's no latter-day fruit bomb, but rather full of leafy notes, earthiness, breads, tobaccos, lime leaf, tiny hints of curry powder, subtle medicinal touches and a very particular sharp, tangy dark fruit character that no doubt comes courtesy of the marsala. With water: again a tad fruitier, going towards jams and preserves, quince jelly, bramble jam and some very old Fernet Branca. Finish: long, bitterly herbal, more preserves and tangy dark fruit chutneys. Comments: a distinctive and fascinating dram. It doesn't quite conform to either of the production styles or eras we tasted before, but it still feels thoroughly Irish. Also, what a success that marsala finish appears to have been. Complex, at times challenging, but highly detailed and rewarding whisky. 
SGP: 661 - 91 points.