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On a light note, Denise gave me a birthday present a few days early ("I figured you'd like to have this on the weekend..."). You see, I prefer Irish Whiskey to Scotch. My favorite of the Irish Whiskeys I've tried thus far is Redbreast (made by Jameson) which is a pure pot still whiskey. But I haven't tried too many yet: Tully (OK, but just that), Jameson (both 12 and 18 -- the 12 is good, the 18 is very good), Bushmill (the Protestant stuff is only shrug-worthy, though I haven't tried their high end single malts), Redbreast... I don't drink fast enough, obviously.
Now, in my explorations of the world of Irish Whiskey (a far, far smaller world than that of Scotch Whisky), I've learned that there are only three legal distilleries still in Ireland: Bushmills (in Northern Ireland), Midleton Distillery in County Cork, and Cooley Distillery in County Louth. Jameson's line of whiskeys are made at Midleton, for instance -- their old distillery in Dublin is now a museum. Cooley's is actually the only independent distillery, as both Bushmills and Midleton are part of the Irish Distilleries Group, and also the only truly Irish-owned distillery, as my understanding is that the Irish Distilleries Group is owned by a French conglomerate.
Somewhere in my online research, I discovered that there was one and only one peated single malt Irish Whiskey: Connemara, produced by Cooley. Drying the malted barley over peat fires is what gives Scotch whisky its characteristic 'smoky' flavor. I mentioned to Denise some months ago that I was going to have to see if I could dig up a bottle of Connemara to try -- the name alone made me want to try it, since the Connemara region was my favorite memory of my trip to Ireland in '99.
Denise evidently went to some trouble trying to find Connemara. No one distributes it into Ohio. Period. The Party Source, the big liquor store across the river in Kentucky, had once carried it, but it seemed that Cooley's had recently changed distributors and as a result there wasn't anything in the distribution chain yet. But...
The Party Source's single malt expert sent an e-mail to Denise informing her that there was another source. The Scottish independent bottler Murray McDavid -- who bottles Scotch single malts -- had acquired a few casks of 12-year-old Connemara in 2004, and had bottled it at 92 Proof (without chill-filtration or adding caramel coloring) as "Cooley Distillery." According to this guy, the "Cooley" is equal to if not better than the distillery version of Connemara... and they had a few bottles.
So that's what Denise presented to me. I had a few fingers of it last night: a very light-colored whiskey, extremely smooth with pleasant undertones of other flavors, and the 'smoky' hint of peat that is the touchstone of Scotch whiskys. Very nice... One of the better "Scotch" whiskys I've ever tasted!
Thanks, 'Nise!
Next, I'd like to get hold of the non-peated single malt whiskey made by Cooley!
Now, in my explorations of the world of Irish Whiskey (a far, far smaller world than that of Scotch Whisky), I've learned that there are only three legal distilleries still in Ireland: Bushmills (in Northern Ireland), Midleton Distillery in County Cork, and Cooley Distillery in County Louth. Jameson's line of whiskeys are made at Midleton, for instance -- their old distillery in Dublin is now a museum. Cooley's is actually the only independent distillery, as both Bushmills and Midleton are part of the Irish Distilleries Group, and also the only truly Irish-owned distillery, as my understanding is that the Irish Distilleries Group is owned by a French conglomerate.
Somewhere in my online research, I discovered that there was one and only one peated single malt Irish Whiskey: Connemara, produced by Cooley. Drying the malted barley over peat fires is what gives Scotch whisky its characteristic 'smoky' flavor. I mentioned to Denise some months ago that I was going to have to see if I could dig up a bottle of Connemara to try -- the name alone made me want to try it, since the Connemara region was my favorite memory of my trip to Ireland in '99.
Denise evidently went to some trouble trying to find Connemara. No one distributes it into Ohio. Period. The Party Source, the big liquor store across the river in Kentucky, had once carried it, but it seemed that Cooley's had recently changed distributors and as a result there wasn't anything in the distribution chain yet. But...
The Party Source's single malt expert sent an e-mail to Denise informing her that there was another source. The Scottish independent bottler Murray McDavid -- who bottles Scotch single malts -- had acquired a few casks of 12-year-old Connemara in 2004, and had bottled it at 92 Proof (without chill-filtration or adding caramel coloring) as "Cooley Distillery." According to this guy, the "Cooley" is equal to if not better than the distillery version of Connemara... and they had a few bottles.
So that's what Denise presented to me. I had a few fingers of it last night: a very light-colored whiskey, extremely smooth with pleasant undertones of other flavors, and the 'smoky' hint of peat that is the touchstone of Scotch whiskys. Very nice... One of the better "Scotch" whiskys I've ever tasted!
Thanks, 'Nise!
Next, I'd like to get hold of the non-peated single malt whiskey made by Cooley!
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From:
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My own experience as:
(1) a cradle Catholic
(2) an American who's visited both the North and the Republic
(3) someone who was friends with a bunch of the old Northern Irish fans, like Walt Willis (Protestant) and James White (Catholic)
-- is that Americans make remarks like this rather more lightly than Irish people do.
Walter in particular was very moving on the subject of how, during his lifetime, he felt that politics had made cultural "Irishness" into a legacy that had been forcibly taken away from him.
Most people in the Six Counties, Catholic and Protestant alike, come from families that have been in Ireland longer than the families of most Americans have been in America.
That said, I recently discovered a single-malt Irish whiskey which, while not peated, is way superior to most Irish single malts: Merry's. Here in NYC it's been showing up at $17-$18 for 750ml, which is a steal.
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On the other hand, I intend to pick up a bottle of Bushmills single malt at some point -- I've tried the regular Bushmills and it's okay but nothing more, IMO. My next purchase, though, might be Cooley's "Tyrconnell" single malt (unpeated)
I'll have to see if I can find Merry's here locally -- the price for a single malt is very attractive.
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I had an opportunity to sample some Makers Mark for the first time this weekend, coincidentally. I've seen it around for years, but I thought I didn't care for American style whisky (sic), so I never tried it until this weekend.
There's a buttery-ness to it that was unexpected. It was nice, and I can understand why people who like it are enamored of it. But it isn't something I'd choose for myself.
I remember seeing "The Party Source" for the first time from the bridge over the Ohio (about a dozen years ago, during my grad school days up the road at Miami U). I wanted to get some homebrewing supplies there, and took the long way home after a studio trip to Cincinnati. I recall talking with the buyer there about the various artisinal California cognacs they were carrying at the time, and how there were better/less expensive options from California. I wish I'd had the chance to explore that further. There's nothing of the scope or scale of that place to be found around here.
Happy Birthday, a couple days in advance.
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I've had both Talisker and Oban -- I seem to remember preferring the Talisker of the two, but it's been awhile. Tell your in-laws to see if they can find "Green Spot"; it's an Irish pure pot still whiskey, and is supposedly difficult to find outside of Ireland but I've read good reviews of it. (See: http://www.mitchellandson.com/green_spot.html)
The Party Source has an incredible selection of beer, wine, and spirits -- along with decent prices. When it's time to do some serious liquor shopping, that's where we go.
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But I drink bourbon.
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Anne
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Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday!
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