Irish whisky is all the rage right now, although not necessarily the relatively young one I’m reviewing today. The Irish whiskey from the late eighties/early nineties is incredibly popular, and because of that now also incredibly expensive, approaching 300 euro per bottle.
The more affordable option is to go with a younger Irish whisky, like this fruity one bottled by David Stirk of the Creative Whisky Company.
Ireland 2002/2015 (51,8%, Creative Whisky Company, C#20021)
Nose: Lots of tropical fruit. Mangoes, apricots and plenty of ripe banana. It almost smells like candy, very sweet and sugary, with lots of vanilla too.
Taste: The arrival has a kick to it, but mellows quickly. Immediately the fruit appears, all of the tropical kind, but mostly banana and apricots. Almost like a fruit custard.
Finish: Long and fruity with a touch of oak.
Rating: 88
If you’re looking for a fruity whiskey with a kick, than this is it. It’s not overly complex, but that doesn’t really matter in this case. Still available for around 90 euro in some Dutch and Belgian shops.
Photo: Whisky.dk
I can read on the label, with some effort, that it’s a single malt. Double-distilled (Cooley)? Triple-distilled (Bushmills)? Cask number?
It seems to be a sister cask of this student of the month over in US. Either Geoffrey Kleinman (whoever he is) is more generous than you – 96 pts! – or he got the pretty sister.
According to some European sellers the cask # is the same as for the American release: 20021. Which is interesting, since the strength is different: 51.8% in Europe vs 52.2% in US.