Released by ROKDrinks – a large multinational company with a varied range of branded products.
Pale in colour – which I always find reassuring. Quite light & gentle nose. Surprisingly rich depth on the palate of sweet vanilla. Lovely warmth to this one with a pleasant prickly frisson on the finish.
Celtic Football Club have released a number of whiskeys over the years for their fans to enjoy.
Pale golden brown. A very gentle nose that grudgingly gives up soft aromas of sweet vanilla. Mild palate that sits easily in the mouth slowly warming to a fruity sweet finish.
Grand
Thoughts
Both of these blends offer easy accessible drinking. There’s no jagged edges or bold off-putting flavours to deter. For my tastes Uisce Beatha does it with more flair & would score the goals in this round.
Pale straw with decent legs. Gorgeous coastal iodine like smoke. An almost oily mouthfeel. The fabulous peat stacks up like a cosy warming fire on the finish.
Pale straw, decent legs. Soft gentle kiss of turf. Light palate yet smoke comes through. A more balanced well stacked glowing fire gradually fades away.
Nice
Thoughts
A tough choice!
2 gorgeous peaters – the full on Mulligan or gently cultured Clonmel?
Can depend on the mood at the time – but I’m giving it to the fabulous peaty exuberance of Mulligan 8yo.
American Single Malt Whiskey is a ‘thing’ – well almost.
Proposals from the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission – AMWSC – have been forwarded to the Alcohol Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau – TTB – to give definition & legal framework for the category.
While the legislation catches up with evolution in the drinks industry – I’m more interested in how this American Single Malt Whiskey actually tastes!
Sadly – after I’d decanted my samples into my favourite Túath Whiskey Glasses to breathe – the gig was rescheduled!
Undeterred – I tasted away!
Westward Single Malt, 45%
As Thomas Mooney – cofounder of ASMWC & Westward Whiskey – is behind this whiskey I’d assume it complies with the ASMWC proposals.
100% barley – grown in Oregon for a touch of terroir – distilled & matured in Portland using lightly charred oak barrels & presented at 45%
The nose was a trifle shy – clean, fresh, malty with woody vanillas.
A gentle smooth palate.
Slight oakiness towards the rear with a flourish of tannic spice to round things off.
A very pleasant easy single malt to start the show rolling.
Westward Single Malt Stout Cask 46%
Lovely rich expressive & inviting nose.
Heavy palate feel – almost chocolatey.
Oh yes! – Enjoying this one.
Lovely touch of prickly heat on the rear too!
My kinda malt!
Westward Single Malt Pinot Noir Cask 45%
Soft gentle nose with hints of sweet fruitiness.
The summer fruits come to the fore on the palate.
Clean fresh finish dries out leaving a pleasing prickly spice.
Nice!
Thoughts
Without a doubt the Stout Cask won me over. Not that the others weren’t good whiskey – just not as inviting on my palate.
Unlike other beer/whiskey cask collaborations Westward matured their whiskey for a year in locally sourced stout barrels & the results certainly shone for me.
All 3 of these malts stand up very well against anything Scotland & Ireland has to offer.
As ever the competition within the spirits sector increases constantly.
A wonderful trio of American Single Malts to launch the category.
The diversity & quality of rums within the Saison Rum range impressed me very much.
Saison rum tasting c/othewhiskeynut
Part of the excellent Celtic Whiskey Bar & Larder tasting series. As usual I missed the actual live Zoom event – but tuned in later on YouTube for more information about Saison Rum.
My brief tasting notes – in italics – were gathered catching the last of the summer sun in my back garden before watching the video.
Saison Pale Rum, 40%
Pale straw, lovely fresh pungency, reminiscent of sugar cane rum, grassy. Soft, mellow & mouth coating. Gorgeously warm spiciness on the finish.
Lovely!
Saison Rum, 42%
Golden brown, inviting hint of funk in a rich demerara cake. Sweet, smooth & warming. Dries out on the finish in a lip smacking finalé.
Gorgeous!
Saison Sherry Cask Rum, 42%
Golden brown, soft, sweet juicy fruity wine gums. Mild & mellow. Quite light on the finish with a lovely dry tingling.
Grand.
Saison Reserve Rum, 43.5%
Golden brown, soft sweet funk. Richness & depth. Mellow funky finish. A luxurious rum – well balanced & civil.
Saison Barbados 5yo, 46%
Pale brown, sweet fruit cake. Mild. Combination of sweetness & spice with a tingling finish.
One for the sweet tooth!
Saison Trinidad, 7yo, 48%
Pale brown, mild & sweet. Soft palate. Sugar & spice & all things nice.
Dessert rum!
A very enjoyable tasting indeed!
From a funky start to a dessert finish with extremely well balanced & complex rums inbetween – Saison Rum have a bottle to suit every taste.
Using rum sourced from Barbados, Jamaica & Trinidad, French Cognac House Tessendier have recently branched out into rum blending with this gorgeous Saison Rum range.
The rums are shipped to France in bulk at cask strength for careful blending & further maturation in cognac casks. Presented non chill filtered with no added sugar – the results are full of flavour & joie de vivre that my palate enjoys.
Personally my preference veers towards the younger – more brasher – funkiness of the non age statement offerings.
I found the sweetness of the Sherry Cask & Single Origin bottles a touch too much.
Flavoursome rum c/othewhiskeynut
In a close contest Saison Rum won the day with it’s solid dollop of Jamaican dunder.
I had the privilege of attending The Brand Ambassador’s Tasting at the fabulous Celtic Whiskey Bar & Larder in Killarney recently.
Fine whiskey, great company & mighty craic ensued.
I came away with a nugget of Irish Whiskey sales information however.
The biggest selling whisky in Ireland from the eclectic & well represented Beam-Suntory brand portfolio is by a long shot – Teacher’s Highland Cream.
A naggin of Teacher’s c/othewhiskeynut
So I bought a bottle.
It’s yer standard Scotch Blend product.
It’s chill filtered & has added caramel. It’s non age statmented and gives no list of the 30 or so distilleries that have contributed their malt and grain whisky to construct this historic blend – yet it sells bucket loads.
It’s a straight forward no nonsense attractively peated whisky that outsells all others on the Beam-Suntory portfolio.
The light of Scotland is added caramel. c/othewhiskeynut
The colour is ‘The Light Of Scotland’ – according to the label.
A decent hit of peat on the nose is mellowed by a sweet honeyed palate. A slightly drying peaty bite leaves toffee notes to finish on.
Plain, simple peated whisky.
Clearly what the market wants.
Inishowen, peated Irish Whiskey c/othewhiskeynut
Yet ever since the demise of the gorgeous Inishowen – Irish Whiskey has no peated blend currently for sale.
WestmeathWhiskeyWorld 