A few years ago when I was having dinner at Scottish Restaurant Hielander we got an Irish single cask Connemara whiskey with our main course. If I remember correctly it was a grilled duckbreast, but I don’t know anything about side dishes and what else was on the plate. It must have been almost five years ago since my wife was pregnant with our daughter.

Anyway, the whiskey was awesome and I set out to get myself that same cask. Obviously, that wasn’t available anymore but I did get another one at an acceptable price. Unfortunately the thrill was gone by the time I opened it so it took a while to be reviewed, and the only reason I’m nearing the end of my bottle is because I sold quite a lot of samples from it.

Strangely, I didn’t like this whisky initially. I thought it was soapy and didn’t offer much else. Now, after a year or two of airing and oxidizing in the bottle things have changed.

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Very floral with a very gentle peaty smokiness. Floral, almost to a level of lavender and the perfume of Bowmore’s more notorious years. Luckily, a long while in the bottle with more than half of it gone has taken the edge off and now it’s nicely balanced and pushed back by smoke, grains and grassy notes.

Sip:
The palate is quite gentle at 46%, but not without a bit of bite. Nicely tingling, with flavors of grass, straw and a dry smoke. Some earthy notes, as well as a tiny note of perfumy lavender.

Swallow:
The finish is a bit more candy like with a surprising sweetness of pear drops. Slightly dusty and dry, with more focus on the oak as well.

I’m quite glad I left this out for later reviewing. I find that this whisky has improved massively with some oxidation in a contained area. Initially I was quite disappointed with this, when I first tasted it. Now, however, I find it’s a rather nice dram and well worth the 75 bucks I spent on it (I think). The current price according to Whiskybase is some 145 euros, and that’s too much.

Also, I see it promoted as ‘almost 14 years old’ and ‘handfilled label’. Which means there’s an autograph on it, as with a lot of single casks out there. Almost 14 years old is 13 years old, folks. Don’t be pretentious.

86/100

Connemara 26/08/1992 – 02/06/2006, K92/33 4109, 46%. Available for 145 euros.