St Patrick's Day drams

[krakow]

I may not have any Irish roots personally, but I will be using St. Patrick's Day as a fair excuse to open a bottle of Irish whiskey for a drink come Friday, not currently having any on the go...

My recently accumulated collection is Bushmills Black Bush, Green Spot, Redbreast 12 Year Old and Tyrconnell 10 Year Old Madeira Cask. At the moment I'm thinking either the Green Spot or the Redbreast 12 will be what I'll go for.

Is 'single pot still' whiskey (if I get the nomenclature correct) unique to Ireland, by the way?

What Irish whiskey is anyone else going to enjoy come Friday?

[TheWM]

I'm no expert (so perhaps shouldn't reply). But as far as I know, it is unique to Ireland and also they use a blend of malted and unmalted barley too. Another (although not unique) character of Irish whiskies are that they are triple distilled. That is to say not only is this a longer process (and more costly) it also removes heavier notes from the spirit which is why Irish whiskey is often lighter and sweeter.

Pot still distillation is very prevalent in the rum world. What I don't know is why you would pot still a spirit to get a 'flavoursome' spirit then triple distill it to remove a lot of the heavier compounds that you've just created. im waiting for someone to step in now.

My old man's birthday falls on St Patrick's day and I'm rarely with him - but as I'm here I've brought over a special bottle for his birthday. It's Dun Leire 8 which is a Sainsburys own label which has been discontinued but originally made by Cooley. I bought a few bottles a few years ago for £15. My mate offered to buy one off me for £100 recently but as I'd earmarked it for the old man I had to say no. I'm guessing that this has now gathered some kind of cult following.

It's ace and in terms of unadulterated Irish whiskies the only one that comes close to this is Redbreast 21 that I've had. And trust me I've had more than my fair share of Irish drams!

[krakow]

I had a bottle of that Dun Leire at the time, thanks to Jim Murray's raving about it (for all I recognise his somewhat marmite stature in the industry, he has led me to some good whisk(e)y). It was a long time ago now, so all I remember is that I enjoyed it!

[James T]

Personally I am a big fan of the Redbreast range and their are a few excellent Jameson blends around now also such as the Jameson Black Barrel and Crested.

[krakow]

There's some decent prices on Jameson Crested and Black Barrel around at the moment in the run up to St Patrick's. Been trying to decide which, if any, to try.

[cdn_dram]

I have a bottle of Redbreast 15 unopened so what better occasion. Actually enjoy it more than the 21.

Haven't tried the 12yr cask strength or Powers gold label. Two I want to try.

[krakow]

I'd like to try some Powers as well, was watching a review of the John's Lane the other night.