A Drop Of The Irish (Blackadder, 2015)
A Drop Of The Irish is an undisclosed No Age Statement-whisky from independent bottler Blackadder. On Whiskybase this particular single cask from February 2015 is actually attributed to Bushmills, but I’m note sure where that info comes from, since no distillery is mentioned on the label.
Previous bottlings of A Drop Of The Irish did have an age statement. Or a vintage at least. Five years ago Blackadder bottled a bunch of single cask Irish whiskey under this label, and they ranged from 11 to 14 years old. Since the new series of bottlings from last year have no age statement, you can safely assume they are a fair amount younger. My guess would be at around six or seven years old.
A Drop Of The Irish (59,9%, Blackadder, C#DI 3/2015)
Nose: Nosing this you’d never guess this was bottled at almost 60 percent. Very gentle. Lots of soft, sweet fruits, comparable to other young Irish whiskeys. Banana mainly. Winegums and marzipan too.
Taste: Now the alcohol shows! Lots of heat. Chili’s. Just a bit of banana. We’ll add water (a teaspoon) and give it some time. It helps a bit with the heat, but doesn’t really open up new layers of flavour.
Finish: Mellows out. Slightly zesty. Some pear. Medium in length.
Rating: 76
The fruity DNA is there, but it needs a lot more time to become one of the more mature, fruity bombs that Ireland is also known for.
Thijs is a spirits writer and accredited liquorist from The Netherlands. He runs the blog Words of Whisky and contributes to a number of Dutch and international publications.
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