We're covered in apple blossoms here on the shores of Lake Erie. Cotton candy covered trees, looking like they have pink balloons instead of branches, with only their wiry roots to keep them from floating. The whole town fumes with heavy floral aromas. Within a couple days their purple dark green leaves come in, giving an eerie ominous contrast that will last a couple weeks until they look like regular trees, still pretty with their red wine leaves and sinewy branches.
A fitting spring dram tonight and our first Irish review! Redbreast 12: 40% ABV, $80 CAD, Irish whisky, 12 years old, ex-bourbon and ex-Oloroso.
We sniff around:
Simon gets that grape candy aroma that was prominent in the Amrut. Butterscotchy caramel. Trevor goes for floral. Scott brings up apples and red fruits, raspberry maybe? Red liquorish. Smooth nose. Sean goes for vanilla cake, leather, and ripe fruits. Kyle gets a little saltiness.
Scott gets a bubble gum scent on glass #2.
We cheers.
Simon starts us off with spicy butterscotch. Roasted nuts, amaretto. Fruity berry spicy butterscotch.
Trevor gets caramel mid-palate. Werthers. The finish is a little short.
Scott thinks of those butterscotchy hard squares that are always floating around at Halloween.
Sean gets the nuttiness and the sherry influence. Well balanced, kind of creamy.
Kyle likes the warm-sweet combo. A drink for a cold night outdoors. Jammy.
The finish isn't big but the palate is full flavored.
Reviews: Simon's pick so he starts us off. He really likes this stuff. He bought his best man a bottle for his 30th recently. It's got a nice balance, pretty full flavors, good price point. Pins an 81 on this. Trevor was thinking 82. Very enjoyable. Scott's not quite on the same page, this is tasty, decently complex, good flavors, but it's standard. He lands on 75. Sean puts this at 84. Great start to our Irish venture, definitely something you should expect on his shelf. He's going to keep an eye out for the cask strength version. Kyle wraps us out with an 85. Averages out to 81.4.
Overall: This lands pretty high on our value scale at 84. We recommend you try this. It's readily available, affordable, and tasty. We're looking forward to trying the rest of Redbreast's (and Ireland at large) standard line up.
Cheers!
The S&P Crew.
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