John Power & Son ‘3 Swallows’ Pure Pot Still (43%, OB, -/+ 1950)
There’s not too much info on this one, but we can be certain that it comes from the old John’s Lane Distillery. Indeed, it would have been distilled entirely through pot stills as it seems that they only added a column in 1961. Colour: light gold. Nose: Like many of these very old Irish bottles the immediate impression is of a fusion of OBE - metal polish, soot, porridge - and some rather specific older Irish Whiskey characteristics. In this case mechanical oils, root vegetables, orange cordial, paraffin and steel wool. Teeters between metallic and greasy with some very light fruity notes which fade in and out. Impressive and charismatic old stuff. In time it really starts to open up with gentle waxiness, dusty old book jackets, old copper coins, celeriac and mineral oil. Mouth: impressive texture and delivery. All on white pepper, canvas, ink, charcoal and some notes of plain porridge and bread dough. Goes on with caraway, some lighter cereal tones and lamp oil. Very old school in profile and nicely distinct from Scottish whiskies of the same era. Finish: a bit short but rather dry, oily and mineral with a hint of citrus peel. Comments: cleaves very close to this rathe classical old Irish pure pot style. The more I have of these sorts of bottles the more I enjoy them; I would love to find an example bottled at full strength to see how this sort of make holds up over decades with a bit more oomph. 
SGP: 451 - 84 points. 

John Power & Son 7 yo (43%, OB, 1960s)  
This one should theoretically be 50s distillate. Probably distilled after the previous one was bottled. Colour: yellowy gold. Nose: bolder, richer and sweeter but also far more herbal and liqueurish. Like old verbena liqueur perhaps. Some unusual notes of curry leaf, mustard powder and soot. But there’s also more familiar tropes such as metal polish and these mechanical oily notes. Keeps developing along this line of bitter herbal qualities which I really enjoy. Mouth: funnily enough you notice the wood presence more here - understandably given the age statement. There’s almost a more modern note of green pepper and sawdust but it’s very slight and bound up in all these caraway, fennel and lemon cough medicines. Hints of pine sap, menthol tobaccos and limoncello. Funny and very entertaining. Finish: longer, more nippy and peppery than the previous one. More sooty, autolytic and mineral notes. Comments: This one feels a tad fresher and punchier so it goes up a notch technically in my book. But there’s a nice overall sense of cohesion between the flavour profiles of the two bottlings. Interesting to note the more pronounced wood influence. 
SGP: 561 - 86 points.

John Jameson & Son 7 yo (40%, OB, 1950s)
Interestingly, this one states on the rear label “The materials used in its manufacture are MALTING BARLEY, WHEAT AND OATS”. Why do I feel like I’m being shouted at in a thick Irish accent? Colour: gold. Nose: fascinating. In some ways were very close to the Powers 7yo with this liqueurish and herbal profile but here it’s more concentrated, syrupy and slightly fruity with tinned exotic fruit syrups. Also some notes of black coffee, red fruit teas and spiced mango chutney. There’s a little of this metal polish and sooty quality too but it’s more restrained here. Mouth: ooooh! Superb arrival, all on exotic fruit teas, lemon peel, cough medicines, herbal liqueur, soft waxes, putty, lemon barley water and the refreshing tannin of black tea. I find this really quite excellent. Finish: medium and showing a metallic waxy quality, some grassy rapeseed oil and a few seeds and cereals. Comments: I love the fruitiness that this one retains - a higher malt component in the mash? Anyway, this is probably about as good as these old official Irish Whiskeys can get I suspect. Would kill to try this at cask strength.
SGP: 651 - 88 points.

John Jameson & Son 12 yo (43%, OB Italian import, mid-1960s)
It’s surprising in some ways that the Italians didn’t take more keenly to these Irish Whiskeys at the time, their profiles seem like a natural fit for anyone with a taste for 5yo Glen Grant or Grappa… Colour: pale gold. Nose: very good, we’re opening on bitter orange marmalade with coriander, fruit salad juices, cereals, herbal cough medicines, quince and even a wee kumquat. There’s an added layer of complexity and integration here, no doubt due to the extra age, but also some characteristics that might be classed as more ‘generically old school’. By which I mean you could almost be nosing an old 1970s bottle of Auchentoshan 12yo - maybe… Anyway, it’s a harmonious and superbly elegant old nose. Mouth: Cocktail bitters, white pepper, camphor, hessian, waxes, chalk and limestone. This mix of plain minerality, dry waxiness, light dustiness and light warming mustard and peppery quality make for quite a pleasurable drop. Although, it doesn’t quite have the fruity panache of the 7yo. Finish: Good length, nicely bitter, drying and full of bitter citrus fruits, specifically grapefruit peel and a hint of tarragon. Comments: I like it a lot, it’s an easy one to nose and sip and we’re still firmly in ‘old Irish’ territory. I think it doesn’t quite match the more opulent cheekiness of the 7yo though. 
SGP: 551 - 87 points.

Knappogue Castle 36 yo 1951/1987 (40%, OB, sherry casks)
Distilled at the old Tullamore Distillery which was mothballed in 1954. I know this bottle will set you back a few pennies at auction, but imagine if it was from a similarly long lost Scottish distillery. Make of that what you will. Colour: light amber. Nose: what’s funny is that even with all these extra and evidently older layers on top, there’s still this rather clear ‘Irish’ accent on the nose. Lots of tangerine and marmalade mixed with coal dust, hessian, cloves, olive oil, marzipan and brown bread. Very good but perhaps a tad light. Mouth: hmmm, a little flat and dusty on arrival. Good but a bit cardboardy. Some nice mineral oil notes along with wet grains, orange cordial, green herbal teas and a soft, dusty waxiness. Finish: Medium but on the shortish side. Some notes of mirabelle, lemon peel and quince with a bitter herbal note in the aftertaste. Comments: There’s plenty to enjoy here, and the historical heft is not lost on me. It’s just that I tend to prefer the much more playful and fun ‘old youngsters’ than these longer matured old Irish. 
SGP: 550 - 80 points. 

Irish Single Malt 13 yo ‘Batch 2’ (48.4%, That Boutique-y Whisky Co, 2200 bottles)  
Shout out to all the Father Ted fans. Colour: white wine. Nose: pure pears! Pears, pears, pears and did I mention pears? You could also find some rather elegant grassy notes, green apple peelings and some kind of custard made with poire williams. Pear drops sweets melted in a pan with nail varnish remover. That sounds terrible but it’s not meant to be. Mouth: Guess what? PEARS! (says the loud Jameson rep from the 1950s) Seriously, this is more pears than a Perry orchard. There’s some lemon, some grass, some rapeseed oil and perhaps a little vanilla syrup. But mainly it’s about the pears. Finish: Medium, quite cereal and featuring pears. Comments: Pears. No, seriously, it’s very good and wonderfully green and fruity. It’s just a little lopsided towards, well, pears. 
SGP: 630 - 83 points. 

An Irish 10 yo 2006/2019 (47.4%, Cadenhead Small Batch, 2 bourbon hogsheads, 648 bottles)
You may note the discrepancy between age and vintage / bottling year. This is almost certainly due to the legality that Irish Whiskey is only as old as the number of years it matures in Ireland. Hence the 10yo age statement from Cadenhead. How very ‘them’ - if I may. Colour: white wine. Nose: surprisingly different. This could almost be vendange tardive pinot gris with these light and toasty honeyed notes wrapped around minerals and some slightly salty mead. Quite a departure from all the others. Pretty unusual and rather good I think. Notes of putty, chalk and something akin to lemon-infused goat cheese. Mouth: rather peppery and fruity on arrival. Exotic fruit yoghurts, mango lassi, lemongrass, chai tea, kumquat and unusual fruits like kiwi and star fruit. Some olive oil and toasty cereals. Finish: good length, again nicely peppery, citrusy, grassy and mineral. Comments: Very good! Great and unusual selection by Cadenhead. Worth trying if you can find it. I really enjoy this quite unusual and oh so Irish fruit profile. 
SGP: 640 - 88 points.

Octomore 3 yo 2016/2019 'Edition 10.4' (63.5%, OB, virgin heavily toasted French oak, 12000 bottles) 
‘Virgin heavily toasted French oak’… Should I prepare a last will and testament…? Colour: coppery orange. Nose: toasty indeed. There is this anticipated pencil shaving aspect but it comes with lots of charcoal embers, warmth, ground green pepper, some kind of sweetened sawdust and herbal toothpaste. Also something like smoked orange peel. Hard to describe really. A rather simmering, peppery spiciness and over time it develops a sort of farmy, silage-tinged edge. What is undeniably impressive is that it isn’t at all aggressive or jarring, it’s very unusual but there is some kind of cohesion going on. With water: anthracite, dung, burnt toast, chip fat, mutton stock, putty and rather a lot of creosote. Some burning pine cones as well perhaps. Mouth: Ouch! You really feel the strength on arrival. Hot, sharp and hitting notes of raw medicines, paint thiner, antiseptic, carbolic acidity and chilli flakes. Pass the gimp mask please, not to mention a small Loch of water… with water: hard to fit enough water into a copita glass! This herbal toothpaste note is back, alongside peppered and smoked beef jerky, hot smoked paprika, bacon jam, camphor, burnt plasticine, scorching hot bovril, marmite, burnt twiglets. Totally mad whisky. A pleasing glimmer of root beer and caramelised brown sugar after a while. Finish: extremely long, very hot and prickling with red chilli, wood spices, aniseed, cough medicines, steel wool, very salty meat stocks, rather disjointed… have we fallen through a wormhole? Comments: I’m not sure what to say. Personally speaking this is just not my cup of whisky. Despite some initial promise on the nose I feel it really fell apart technically. And the neat palate was borderline painful. Now, having said all that, I suspect there are some extremist whisky pals out there who will want to marry this bottling. Not really sure what to do about a score, this kind of profile exists quite far outside normal whisky spectrums. 
SGP: 477 - 69 (meaningless) points.

Octomore 5 yo 2013/2019 'Edition 10.1' (59.8%, OB , 1st fill barrels)
This one entirely from Scottish grown Concerto barley apparently. Colour: pale straw. Nose: After the terrifying phantasmagoria of the 3yo this feels almost merciful. Drying kelp, wet rocks, chalk, sandalwood, lime juice, mineral salts, brine cut with olive oil. Classical, modern, pure and rather elegant for an Octomore. Lemon peel in a rock pool almost. With water: bath bombs, citrus oils, more mineral salts, crushed sea shells, limestone, hessian cloth and gauze. Really lovely nose. Mouth: extremely salty. Pure brine, pink sea salt, green olives, capers, anchovy paste and fish sauce mixed with lime juice. Almost brutally coastal and there’s a tiny animalistic farmy note underneath as well. A very precise head-butt of coastal purity. With water: develops more towards medicine and pure antiseptic now. Lemon juice, fresh oyster, mercurochrome and olive pickling juice. Finish: long and pin-sharp. Some peat smoke, black pepper, seaweed broth and smoked mussels. Comments: When I think of Octomore, this is pretty much the flavour profile that comes to mind. It’s a style of almost militant purity, one that it has pretty much made its own and I think this bottling does it as well as any. 
SGP: 367 - 88 points.

Octomore 8 yo 2010/2019 'Edition 10.2' (56.9%, OB for Travel Retail, 1st fill barrels and ex-Sauternes, 24,000 bottles)
This one was distilled from Optic and Oxbridge Scottish grown barley, then spent four years in ‘ex-American Whiskey casks’ and the subsequent four in Sauternes. So more of an even handed double maturation than a finish. Colour: gold. Nose: a far more bready profile compared to the others. Closer in fact to a ‘world’ whisky style in some ways with these autolytic notes of brown bread, toasted seeds and pastries. The smoke is in there but it’s a tad subdued. Some leathery and sooty qualities make themselves felt as well. Notes of caraway, rather a lot of green pepper and carbon paper. With water: much more sooty and with an earthy smokiness about it. Medical, grassy and more herbal. Mouth: a mix of salty, meaty and bready on arrival. Smoky bacon crisps, sourdough, ink, aniseed and hot paprika. Gets increasingly medical and there’s a definite syrupy sweetness to the palate which is quite a departure from the coastal purity of the 5yo. There’s still a rather ‘Octomorian’ directness about it but it sits in a sort of triangulated position between farmyard, sweetness and medicine. With water: more towards plain peat smoke now with camphor, creosote, limoncello and sweetened cough syrups. Finish: long and more elegant and herbal than the previous two. Some bonfire smoke and tarry notes. Comments: I think the maturation worked pretty well here. I find this sweeter side feels quite natural and attractive. The peat feels unusually subdued. 
SGP: 566 - 86 points.