Writers' Tears Limited Edition, Japanese Cask Finish

Yes, another NAS Irish whiskey with a secondary maturation. But at least this finish is......whiskey adjacent.

A bit of drama has set in during the young life of Walsh Whiskey, the producers of the Writers' Tears and The Irishman brands. The Irish company partnered with Italian drinks producer Illva Saronno to build Royal Oak Distillery in 2016. Three years later, Saronno took full ownership over the distillery after a dispute. Walsh Whiskey continued to own the two whiskey brands until it was purchased by the Latvian Amber Beverage Group.

I still don't know from where Writers' Tears is sourced. Bushmills? If you know, please drop a hint in the comments below.

pilfered pic

Distillery: ???

Brand: Writers' Tears

Owner: Amber Beverage Group

Country: Ireland (with Latvian owners)
Style: Single Malt + Single Pot Still

Distillations: Three
Age: NAS

Maturation: American oak first, Mizunara oak second

Alcohol by Volume: 55%

(thank you Doctors Springbank!)

NEAT

Nose - Mint leaf, orange candy, and bubblegum, with some florals and veg in the background.

Palate - Pencil shavings, Play-Doh, and umeboshi. Cherries, sugar, and a hint of grapefruit.

Finish - Pear syrup, bitter grapefruit, and a little bit of anise.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 1¼ tsp of water per 30mL whiskey

Nose - Oranges, pears, ginger, and banana pudding.

Palate - Mild. Pears, peach candy, and cherries.

Finish - Circus peanuts.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This was two steps above Monday's Dingles. It's neither dreamy nor complex, but its very drinkable, even at full strength. And the fruitiness has me thinking this was at least partially fashioned from Bushmills's stock. The mizunara is very subtle. It's also an expensive oak, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was third-fill, which is a good thing. I'd like to try this one again sometime.

Availability - ???
Pricing - €80-€120 maybe?
Rating - 82

A pair of Dingles (as in, Irish Single Malts)

Four weeks have passed since St. Patrick's Day which means it's time for me to review some Irish whiskies! This time it'll be a quartet of single malts from brands that have rarely appeared on this site.

I have an emotional connection to the distillery that produced the first two whiskies. Thirteen years ago, I stayed in Dingle to attend one of the greatest weddings of all time. During the wedding someone told me that ground was being broken for a new Irish distillery, right there in Dingle. Somehow through the flood of Redbreast and Guinness I remembered that. That very distillery fired up its stills in late 2012, and it's company has already released a 10 year old, though most of their offerings have no age statement. Meanwhile, I've never tried any of their stuff. So here's a pair!

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Dingle Lá 'le Bríde

pic lifted from
whiskybase

Distillery: The Dingle Whiskey Distillery

Owner: Porterhouse Group
Location: Dingle, County Kerry, Ireland
Type: Single Malt
Distillations: Three
Age: NAS

Maturation: bourbon casks, then rye cask finish
Outturn: 10000 bottles

Release date: 2023
Alcohol by Volume: 50.5%
(thank you Doctors Springbank!)

NEAT

Nose - Uh oh, I think they used Koval casks because I can smell that ultra-grainy half-baked unbalanced Craft rye through everything else. There's also some cardamom, notebook paper, mint extract, ethyl, and a hint of manure.

Palate - Better! Ginger, vanilla, lime, cinnamon, and that farmy note.

Finish - Lime pith, cinnamon, and lots of sugar.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or >½ tsp of water per 30mL whiskey

Nose - Cow shit floating in immature rye. White vinegar and anise.

Palate - A rye+sambuca cocktail with plenty of simple syrup.

Finish - Matches the nose, but with a slight milkiness.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Oh dear. The (Koval?) rye casks mistreated this Irish whiskey. Firstly, the less I say about the diluted version, the better. Secondly, it doesn't taste half bad, but I'm not sure how much of the single malt remains. Thirdly, I don't know, this bummed me out. The American Craft whiskey scourge came to Ireland, corrupting what could have been a good malt. 

Availability - Still available in Europe
Pricing - €80-€90
Rating - 74 (do not dilute!)

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Dingle Samhain

pic lifted from
whiskybase

Distillery: The Dingle Whiskey Distillery

Owner: Porterhouse Group
Location: Dingle, County Kerry, Ireland
Type: Single Malt
Distillations: Three
Age: NAS

Maturation: five years first-fill bourbon casks, then two years in first-fill Muscatel casks (rumored)

Outturn: 10000 bottles

Release date: 2022
Alcohol by Volume: 50.5%
(thank you Doctors Springbank!)

NEAT

Nose - Complete separation between barley grist and Oloroso-style (rather than classic Muscatel) fortified wine, with cinnamon and spoiled milk in the background.

Palate - Again, better here. Same ginger and vanilla combo, but with walnuts and raw almonds in the mix.

Finish - Lots of ginger and lime pith, with a lingering bitter bite.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or >½ tsp of water per 30mL whiskey

Nose - Again, curiously Oloroso-esque and a good dose of walnuts. Cleaner, but I'm not sure where the whiskey is.

Palate - Strangely sour and bitter.

Finish - Same as on the palate.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Similar feelings here. The whiskey does NOT swim, the finish overwhelms, and where's my Dingle? This one's palate works better than the Bríde's, but the neat nose had me worried that this was going to be an all out fail. These two weren't good introductions to Dingle because American rye (especially the craft stuff) and Muscatel are not subtle partners for any triple-distilled whisk(e)y. I'll try the Dingle single malt again someday, maybe even on site! But not another finished product.

Availability - Still available in Europe
Pricing - €80-€90
Rating - 74 (do not dilute!)

A quick personal update, April 2024

You may or may not have noticed that the timing of my weekly posts has become more uneven than usual. Blame it on a house. Because I bought one! And going through it all on my own has been more difficult than I had anticipated.

From an emotional distance, it's a wonderful house. The basement is huge, my daughters will have one half and I'll have the other. There's a backyard, soon to be populated by a grill and firepit. A big open living space that can easily fit a TV room and an office. My girls will finally each have their own room. And I'll have two bars.

But the place is slowly becoming a money pit because the previous owners treated their property like a toilet. And that's not entirely an exaggeration. Unfucking their horrors has absorbed the majority of my non-work life, except.....I'm also on day 10 out of 17 consecutive days with my daughters, alone. We all still love each other very much, but not one of us are mellow humans at this point in our lives.

Also I do work, which pays for all the above, kinda.

The key to managing the stress is dialing down the alcohol and dialing UP THE CAFFEINE. When I do drink whisky, I pair a glass of something tasty with whatever psychotronic-giallo-oddball film (100 minutes or less) that I can find on my streaming channels. Sitting down to take official tasting notes usually leads to looking at my schedule and email to see what I've forgotten to do today, checking the news (briefly, because fuck), and zoning out. Last night, I poured a 1975 Bushmills, which of course smelled fruitylicious but had oxidized into soap on the palate. So I dumped it out and went straight to a highball.

I hope you have enjoyed this extensive excuse. The reviews will continue but won't always post on the same days during the week. So it goes. Someday my life will get back into a rhythm. Oh, I forgot to mention I booked a springtime trip to Paris before I'd even considered buying a house. And the flight to CDG isn't too far away...

Kilkerran 15 year old 2004 Bourbon Wood single cask, UK Exclusive

I've tried two of Kilkerran's 15yo 2004 single casks before. Both were good, but mostly sherry sherry sherry sherry. Today's 15yo 2004 spent its entire life in a refill bourbon hogshead, thank The Maker! I'm a bit excited about this one, so I'm ending the intro here.

Distillery: Glengyle

Owner: Mitchell's Glengyle Limited

Brand: Kilkerran

Region: Campbeltown

Age: 15 years (May 2004 - October 2019)

Maturation: refill bourbon hogshead

Outturn: 324 bottles

Bottled for: United Kingdom

Alcohol by Volume: 53.1%

(from a bottle split)

NEAT

Three very nice strata form the nose. Level 1: Medicinal peat + yeast. Level 2: Guava + Grapefruit. Level 3: Honey, cinnamon, and vanilla bean. After 20 minutes, it gains hints of farm and light blue Mr. Sketch markers. That forest-y Kilkerran peat leads the palate, and is met by tart limes, canned peaches, and a bit of umami, with moments of soot and cinnamon in the background. Savory smoke, tart oranges, and antiseptic finish things off.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or >1 tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The nose gets lighter and prettier, with white peaches, honey, and cinnamon to counter the farmy peat. The palate becomes simpler and sweeter. Apricots and lemons. Wood smoke and pink peppercorns. It finishes with lemony smoke and honey.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This is the best Kilkerran I've had in nearly four years, and certainly one of their top all-bourbon-cask releases that's sat in my glass. It has the great fruits, a slight youthful fight, and different phenolic angles, while also taking dilution very well. If you doubt me, please see Sir Opinions's review here. We are correct.

Availability - Maybe on the secondary market
Pricing - I cannot look
Rating - 89

Kilkerran Heavily Peated, batch 7

Though I am a Kilkerran enthusiast, I've avoided the brand's Heavily Peated range. Part of Kilkerran single malt's thrill is how well (sometimes perfectly) its low-to-moderate peat level merges with every other aspect of the spirit. Very, very few heavily-peated whiskies achieve any level of balance; the pleasure (for some folks) is the scope of the phenolic assault. Monolithic whiskies no longer appeal to my palate, so when Kilkerran upped its ppm levels from 10 to 84 for this series, I shrugged and ignored every batch's release, especially after my disappointment with their standard Cask Strength releases.

But I'm still a curious man, and these Heavy creatures have received positive reviews, so......here it is, Heavily Peated, batch 7.

Distillery: Glengyle

Owner: Mitchell's Glengyle Limited

Region: Campbeltown

Brand: Kilkerran

Range: Heavily Peated

Age: NAS

Maturation: 90% bourbon casks / 10% sherry casks

Bottled: 12 Sept 2022

Alcohol by Volume: 59.1%

(from a bottle split)

NEAT

Direct prosciutto hit to the nose! Plenty of seaweed, coal, and charred green bell peppers then follow. Giving it some time, I find mint leaf and tangerine juice peeking out of the background. The palate is, erm, peated. Burnt veg, burnt bacon, burnt beef, burnt taste buds. Once my face heals up, molasses, salt, rock candy, and lemons push forward. The prosciutto returns in the finish, followed by dark smoke and bitter herbs.

DILUTED to 46%abv, or 1¾ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The PEAT becomes very ocean-y in the nose, just as a fresh apricot note suddenly appears. The palate reads sweeter and less burnt, with mint and moss in the background. It finishes with moss, sugar, and ash.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Though this feels like 3-4 year old whisky, it is a decent 3-4 year old whisky. The spirit has scared (or scarred) the oak away, which I don't mind, and it's not as much of a palate wrecker as I'd anticipated. But it's still a brute. Some time and water may be required to find this batch's best form, especially near the 46%abv mark. Though I'm not motivated to purchase a bottle, I won't ignore these releases going forward. At least Glengyle is playing with peat rather than tiny casks and wine blends.

Availability - These batches sell out with surprising speed
Pricing - $80+ in Europe, $100+ in the US
Rating - 83

Fail...er...Adventures in Blending: Improving Kilkerran Cask Strength, AGAIN

I love love love Kilkerran's Work In Progress (WIP) single malts, all of them. They're brilliant and possibly the best whisky being produced in Campbeltown at the time. The first batch of Kilkerran 12yo was also a more-than-worthy mate to Springbank 10yo. I'd grab another bottle if I could find one.

So I was very excited to hear that Glengyle distillery was going to release a series of age-stated cask strength Kilkerran batches. I bought a bottle of Batch 1, all ex-bourbon casks, as soon as it materialized. And it took me nearly five years to finish it. It just did not work. Despite being older than half of the WIPs, it read more immature than all of them, very hot and incomplete. I tried to spruce it up with some magical old Famous Grouse 18yo Malt, with mixed results.

In 2020 I tried Batch 4, which was all recharred sherry casks......and I wasn't wild about that one either, as its oak and sherry elements were completely out of balance with the spirit. Then, in 2023, I split a bottle of Batch 7, port casks, and that one went the wrong direction, full-tilt.

Thus I've lost interest in the cask strength batches, especially if Glengyle won't release batches with a mix of sherry and bourbon casks. They blended casks in the first four WIPs (younger whisky may I add) and knocked it out of the park each time.

But what if I did a little blending myself? Well, I did in 2022. And then completely forgot about it. So my two little ~35mL creations sat for 21 months, marrying or merging or cuddling. And now it's time to find out what resulted.

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Vatting #1

1 part Kilkerran Work In Progress, Sixth Edition, sherry wood, ~10 years old, 46%abv

+

2 parts Kilkerran Cask Strength, Batch 1, bourbon casks, 8 years old, 56.2%abv

Full strength, 52.8%abv

Nose: Walnuts, honey, and oranges. Antiseptic, sandalwood, chocolate, and mild peat smoke.

Palate: Slight sooty with a bit of heat. Sweet oranges and Luxardo cherries.

Finish: Soot, oranges, hint of toffee.

Comments: NAILED IT. Oh wow, this keeps many of the best parts from WIP6, ditching the weakest elements of CS1.

Diluted to 46%abv

Nose: Toffee, almond butter, and date rolls. Peat smoke starts out quiet, then expands with time.

Palate: Weirdly bitter, with almonds and black pepper in the background.

Finish: Sweeter and less bitter than the palate.

Comments: The nose works. The palate does not. I'm surprised by how much it changed.

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Vatting #2

10mL Kilkerran Cask Strength, Batch 4, re-charred sherry casks, 8 years old, 57.1%abv

+

25mL Kilkerran Cask Strength, Batch 1, bourbon casks, 8 years old, 56.2%abv

Full strength, 56.45%abv

Nose: Brine, barley(!), and almond extract, with hints of blossoms and industrial smoke stack.

Palate: Very floral and hot. Heavy peat. Tart lemons and a hint of soap in the background.

Finish: Floral, salty, sweet, and very peppery.

Comments: Very good nose, but everything else is out of whack.

Diluted to 46%abv

Nose: Brine, black currant jam, and piney peat.

Palate: Orange marmalade. Plenty sweet with gentler oak and peat.

Finish: Oranges, wood smoke, and a touch of bitterness.

Comments: Much better this way. I wish I had another ounce or two to ponder.

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#1 at full strength is the obvious winner, though I'd be happy with a bottle of #2 at 46%abv. Both are complete whiskies, fashioned with dumb luck. I guarantee you that J&A Mitchell & Company's blenders have the stock and skillset to run circles around me, so why don't they give it a try? There's room to grow with this CS series, and I do not mean tequila casks. Kilkerran can still offer coffee-dark sherried or straw-light bourbon cask batches, while also dropping a masterful mix into the series once in a while. No finishes, just vattings. I know I'd buy it.

Secret Speyside 31 year old 1989 Asta Morris, cask AM153

Sometimes unnamed "Speysides" are not Glenfarclases. I think this one is Glenrothes, as per Mark Dermul. He was fond of the whisky, as was Ruben and Serge. It looks like this cask's content (40.8%abv) was months away from becoming Spirit Drink, but I trust Asta Morris, a bottler who is batting 1.000 in my scorebook. I've been looking for some excuse to try this pick of theirs, and here's the excuse: It's the weekend!

Distillery: Glenrothes?

Region: Speyside (Rothes!)

Independent Bottler: Asta Morris
Series: Heritage

Age: 31 years old (1989 - 2021)

Maturation: former bourbon vessel

Cask #: AM153

Alcohol by Volume: 40.8%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

Oooh, a fun nose! A layer of fruits and flowers (peaches, citrons, kiwis, lemon blossoms, and jasmine blossoms) rests atop crème brûlée, nougat, toasted oak, and black walnuts. Later on, orange & white gummy worms join in.

The palate has more fight than one expects from 40.8%abv. Manuka honey, mangoes, limes, guava, and sea salt fill the fore- and midground, with hints of tartness and bitterness moderating the sweetness in the background.

A dessert-like combo of vanilla, orange, and toasted almonds fills the finish until a bit of bitter oak sneaks in.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

The nose is WOW, the palate is great, and the finish is......good, an almost inevitable scenario with many older low ABV casks, as the oak's personality tilts from ally to aggressor. That being said, this is a groovy whisky I'd be happy to possess, and certainly the best Glenrothes I've ever had. And the price wasn't too bad when the bottle was available.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - €230, imagine that price on a 31yo today!

Rating - 88