The wealth of new distilleries in Ireland has meant an increasing number of new Irish whiskey expressions to sample. The country is renowned for its triple-distilled whiskey. However, even when honoring traditional production methods, distilleries in Ireland can produce a wide array of different styles.
Some of the recommendations below are brand-new releases that you should pay attention to if you’re a fan of all things Irish whiskey. Some of them have been out for a while but are worth putting your hands on if you want something new from the Irish whiskey catalog.
Writers Tears Cask Strength 2023, 54.8% ABV
BUY NOW: $169.99
The regular bottle of Writers Tears at 40% ABV is a standard on my shelf when the weather starts to get a little more warm and humid. Whether you drink it neat, with a splash of water, or in a cocktail, this dram has an incredible freshness that can be revitalizing on a hot day.
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When I found out there was a cask strength release, I had to jump onto that straight away. Bottled at 54.8% and matured exclusively in ex-bourbon casks, this whiskey is perfect for that autumnal transition out of summer, especially as you start to feel that first little chill in the air.
The big sweetness and crème brûlée notes are just perfect. It is. A little on the expensive side, but if you don’t fancy a Midleton Very Rare this year, and want something different then this offers great taste and great value.
Lambay Small Batch Irish Blended, 40% ABV
BUY NOW: $25.99
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Named after Lambay Island off the east coast of Ireland, this small batch whiskey is Lambay’s flagship expression. The whiskey is, of course, triple-distilled and finished in cognac casks from Camus in France. Volcanic water from Trinity Well is then used to bring this down to strength before bottling.
For me, this is the perfect replacement for something like Green Spot or Bushmills 10 Year Old. Plus the puffin on the front of the label is wearing a tuxedo and that is just outright charming!
Gold Spot 13 Year Old Generations Edition, 46%
BUY NOW: $291.99
The first release of Gold Spot whiskey had a distinctive note of green tea running through that, personally, I couldn’t get to grips with. This release, however, has truly captured my attention, as it touches on my new obsession with Italian red wine.
The whiskey is matured in a combination of bourbon and sherry casks before being finished in rather unique Valpolicella Classica Italian red wine casks. As a result of this very bespoke finishing process, we have these huge red berry-focused notes of fresh fruit compote, cherry, apple blossoms, toffee, cherry, and raisin.
The finish still has a strong influence of the wine with softer tannin notes, peppery pot still spices, and more of those soft ruins and sweet toffee notes Hats off to Midleton Distillery for this one.
Blackwater Irish Five Grain Whiskey, 47% ABV
BUY NOW: Not currently available in the US
What happens if you blend a whiskey before putting it into a cask? The Blackwater Distillery has done it. This is something you can’t legally do under Scottish whisky legislation, so god bless the Irish for doing something deliberately different to see what would happen.
John Wilcox, the distillery’s Head Distiller has put this malt-heavy blend together with a mix of different distillates that were run out of the distillery during the first distilling season in 2018. It does contain traces of wheat, oats, and rye, too, but none of these are ‘grain’ distillates.
It is technically a blended whiskey but is also classed as a pot still whiskey, so this thing is a Venn diagram of all sorts of stuff. There was only one cask of this whiskey produced, so if you do want to get your hands on something really, really different then this is the one for you!
Waterford Ballybannon 1.1 Peated, 50% ABV
BUY NOW: $79.99
We’ve all had good exposure to Waterford by now. It’s a distillery that focuses on double distillation, terroir-oriented single expressions, higher ABV across the board, and a rather fancy bottle to package it all in. But this is the one I’ve been waiting for, peated Waterford.
Do keep in mind that the man who owns his distillery used to own Bruichladdich, so the fact we have peated liquid now is pretty fun!
Peated to 47 phenol parts per million (ppm) before distillation, this whiskey gives us some now classic Waterford notes of fresh apple, pear, and peach but now we have this gentle and roaming smoke accenting the fresh fruit notes. The finish on this liquid has a darker and more west coast of Scotland feel to it.
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