Green Spot is a young Irish whiskey from a pot still, made by the Midleton distillery. The same distillery produces a lot of other brands like Jameson, Paddy, Powers and Red Breast. A lot of Green Spot’s reviews are very favorable and since the whiskey is mentioned in Ian Buxton’s’ 101 Whiskies to try before you die’ I thought I should try it.

Nose:
The smell of alcohol is very pungent and very hard to overcome at first. After that there is a certain association with unmalted barley, which is to be expected in Irish Pot Still whiskey. I also get quite a lot of spirityness, by which I mean that it tastes very young with almost no wood influence.

Taste:
The taste is much more fierce than I expected, with also a lot of alcohol bite. There is some thickness to it I didn’t expect and quite a lot of vanilla, gras and some acidity. After a few seconds most of the flavours are gone.

Finish:
Just after you’ve swallowed the stuff, its pretty fierce, but it doesn’t last very long, which also indicates that its a young whiskey. Some some lemon and vanille notes.

I just read somewhere that people find this one of the great whiskies of the world and to be honest, I disagree. There isn’t much Irish Pot Still whiskey, so they tend to be received favorably, but the lack of other options does not make for a great whiskey, in my opinion. I thought this dram is far too close to new spirit, with almost no refinement of maturation.

Green Spot, Irish Pot Still Whiskey, Midleton, 40%, € 35, available at Jurgen’s Whiskyhuis.

Nose: 1
Taste: 3
Finish: 1
Overal Experience: 0
Price/quality: -1

Total: 3 points