Irish Whiskey Tasting (March 16th, 2023)
This is our 2nd Irish Whiskey Tasting. I enjoy Irish Whiskey, much more than Scotch. The bottles in question were;
| TT Label | Description | Proof | Rating | Price (CAD$) |
| F | Bushmills, 16 yr | 80 | 8.0 | $130/$143 USD |
| E | The Irishman, 12 yr | 86 | 7.7 | $97/$83 USD |
| B | RedBreast, 12 yr | 80 | 6.3 | $80/$52 USD |
| G | RedBreast, 12 yr, Cask Strength | 112.6 | 7.0 | $105/$92 USD |
| C | Teeling, Small Batch | 92 | 6.2 | $52/$27 USD |
| D | Waterford, Sheestown, 1.2 | 100 | 7.1 | $100/$?? USD |
| A | Writers’ Tears, Double Oak | 92 | 7.5 | $70/$65 USD |
| H | O’Casey’s (Irish Cream) | 34 | 8.2 | $25/?? USD |
This was our 2nd Irish Whiskey tasting, and done in honour of, and close to St. Patrick’s Day. I’m wondering how many more we can do, since the Irish Whiskey selection is quite limited in Canada, but you know I’ll keep trying, and doing my research.
We had 14 people on the Zoom call, the results of the vote, went against our normal trend, and not trying to be a spoiler, but the most expensive one, won this time, the oldest, and most expensive. Not crazy $$, $130 bottle, well worth it, IMHO.
I was surprised one of my personal favorites, and winner last year, Red Breast 12 yr, placed so poorly this year, it seems the Ohio crew, did not like it, the Red Breast 12 yr, Cask Strength did ‘ok’..
In terms of people trying to ‘guess’ which is which, there weren’t any record breakers on this one. Lots of 1s, 2s, 3s..correct.
The Winners!
The clear winner was Bushmills 16 yr, with 8.0. Next up was the Irishman 12 yr, at 7.7, not too shabby, the lowest vote for it, was a 7, so everyone found it pleasant, at least. In 3rd place was Writer’s Tears, at 7.5, it got two 6’s, one from Allison, who was hoping to like it, given her being a writer, and all..Allison there are a few other varieties in their line-up, maybe you’ll like those better! Tim gave it a 6 as well, Tim likes Tequila, but takes part in all my tastings, thanks Tim!
I was not surprised Bushmills 16 yr won, it was a ‘wow’, when drinking it for the first time, while I was establishing the bottle order, very smooth, very flavourful, a cut above the rest, but it was $130. I’d buy it again at that price.
1st Place (8.0) $130/$142
2nd Place (7.7) $97/$83
3rd Place (7.5) $70/$65
The next Tasting will be Plantation rum, from all over the world, looking like late April.
The Survey Results
| A-Writers | B- RB12 | C-Teelings | D-Waterfd | E-Irish12 | F-Bush16 | G-RB12CS | H-Cream | |
| John H | 7 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 9 |
| Brandon J | 7 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
| Ron | 8 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 |
| Randall | 7 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 10 |
| Ben | 8 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 9 |
| Marcia | 7 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 7 |
| Dane | 8 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| Allison | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 9 |
| Dave M | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 5 |
| Tim | 6 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 |
| Adam L | 8 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 9 |
| Clay | 9 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 |
| Brad P | – | 8 | 9 | – | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Total | 90 | 82 | 81 | 85 | 100 | 104 | 91 | 107 |
| Average | 7.5 | 6.3 | 6.2 | 7.1 | 7.7 | 8.0 | 7.0 | 8.2 |
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