The older sister of the Irish whiskey I reviewed yesterday. Another undisclosed whiskey from the emerald isle, two years older than the earlier one and priced at a similar level. I believe yesterday’s bottle initially set me back 60 bucks, and this one was 65. Maybe it was 65 and 70. Quite affordable in the current day and age.

There’s not much to add to the description since it’s undisclosed. No idea what distillery it comes from, we can only guess. Technically there’s nothing wrong with it, except that the next time you want to buy or avoid a similar profile, you have nothing to go by.

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Quite sharp alcohol on the nose initially. Lots of straw, but quite crisp and much more oak influence than the 12 year old. White pepper, and lots of vanilla.

Sip:
The palate is warming and less sharp. Dry, and lightly spicy. Lots of oak and cask influence and it gets a bit sharper after a couple of seconds. Lots of vanilla and some apple crumble. White pepper and ginger.

Swallow:
The finish is crisp again, and this is where fruit really starts showing. Melon, pear. Sweet with vanilla.

Well, this is a bit of a deception. It would probably be a fine dram on its own, but compared to the 12 year old this one is a let down. Where the 12 year old was a fruity and flowery in all the right ways. This one is mostly cask influence with heaps of vanilla and white pepper. A shame there the ‘Irish’ character is not really recognizable and suppressed by the oak.

But, then again, on its own it’s a fine dram. There’s still enough to be enjoyed if you’re tasting this. There’s just a tad too much vanilla, and I miss the typical lightness I expect (or hope to find) in Irish whiskey.

Irish Single Malt, 14yo, 2000-2015, 51.5%, The Nectar of the Daily Drams. No longer available.