Review: Mr. Whiskey Irish Whiskey IPA Cask Finish
Mr. Whiskey Irish Whiskey IPA Cask Finish was just released. It is produced by Terra Spirits & Liqueurs in Bailieboro County Cavan Ireland. Mr. Whiskey pays homage to the son of one of Ireland’s renowned distillers who learned the craft of distilling from his father. He became an expert advisor to many of the craft distilleries throughout Ireland starting in the mid 18th century. He helped create some of the finest craft Irish whiskey on the island, earning the name Mr. Whiskey. This Special Edition Irish whiskey has been made from carefully selected Irish malted barley and grain which is triple distilled and blended in equal portions. The spirit is double cask matured in first-fill bourbon casks and finally rested in Irish IPA beer casks. Read more 
Review: Quinns Irish Cream
Quinns Irish Cream was recently released. It appears to be Target’s new house brand. Also new to their shelves are several other Target only spirits including a vodka. No product information is available on the bottles label or the Target website. The fact that they have labeled this an Irish Cream Liqueur tells me this is made from Irish Whiskey, fresh dairy cream, and natural flavors. Most Irish Cream liqueurs also include neutral spirits. Quinns is imported by Universal Brands, Princeton Minnesota. Princeton Minnesota is the import location of over a dozen private label Irish cream liqueurs. Read more
Review: Jameson Caskmates IPA Edition
Jameson Caskmates IPA Edition is one of four beer barrel finished Irish Whiskies produced at the Midleton Distillery. IPA was their second release. It was launched in the US January 2018. Each starts with Original Jameson Irish Whiskey made from a blend of pot still and grain whiskey. It is triple distilled and aged for a minimum four years in previously used bourbon barrels and Spanish sherry casks. Like the previously reviewed Jameson Caskmates Stout Edition Jameson shared their whiskey barrels with Franciscan Well Brewery. They age their Chieftain IPA in these barrels and then return the IPA seasoned barrels. The Midleton Distillery then refills these barrels with their Original Jameson for a final finishing. Read more
Review: Roe & Co Irish Whiskey
Roe & Co Irish Whiskey has an amazing story that starting in 1757 when Peter Roe built a small distillery on Thomas Street in Dublin, Two years later Arthur Guinness set up his brewery across the street. By 1887 the Roe family had expanded the Thomas Street Distillery to 17 acres. They were producing 2 million barrels of whiskey each year. At the time they were the largest distillery in Europe and one in four Dublin residents worked in a brewery or distillery. In the late 19th century and early 20th century things changed. Competition from Scottish blended whiskey, Prohibition in the US, the Irish War of Independence, and a trade war with Britain caused most Irish whiskey distilleries to close. In 1926 the Thomas Street Distillery itself closed. In 2014 Diageo sold the Bushmills Irish Whiskey brand. By 2017 they got back in the Irish Whiskey game with the release of a new Roe & Co Irish Whiskey, and the construction of a new distillery at the old Guinness power house on Thomas Street. That distillery opened in 2019. While their own distilled whiskey is barrel aging Master Blender Caroline Martin and five elite Dublin bartenders tasted 120 different prototypes before selecting Number 106. Prototype 106 is a blend of over 100 blended malt and grain whiskeys aged in bourbon barrels and non chill filtered before bottling at 90 proof. Read more
Review: Jameson Caskmates Stout Edition
Jameson Caskmates Stout Edition is one of four beer barrel finished Irish whiskies produced at their Midleton Distillery. Stout was the first. It was released in 2015. The other varieties include Jameson Caskmates IPA Edition, Jameson Caskmates Topcutter IPA Edition, and Jameson Caskmates Revolution Brewing Edition. Each starts with the Original Jameson Irish Whiskey made from a blend of pot still and grain whiskey that is triple distilled and aged for a minimum four years in previously used bourbon barrels and Spanish sherry casks. The original story stated Caskmates was conceptualized in 2013 when two friends Dave Quinn, Master of Whiskey Science at Jameson Distillery and Shane Long, Head Brewer at Franciscan Well Brewery were having drinks together at a local pub. Soon after Jameson shared their whiskey barrels with Shane Long and he aged his Franciscan Wells Irish Stout Beer in these once used barrels. The results were amazing. Once returned Jameson refilled these stout seasoned barrels with Original Jameson Irish Whiskey. Pernod Richard recently acquired Eight Degrees Brewing and now the story on the redesigned bottles label reads Eight Degrees Brewing is the source of the stout seasoned barrels. Read more
Review: The Dead Rabbit Irish Whiskey
The Dead Rabbit Irish Whiskey was launched February 2018 in New York and New Jersey. Irish Whiskey Master Distiller Darryl McNally of the Dublin Liberties Distillery teamed up with Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry Co-Founders of the award winning bar, The Dead Rabbit Grocery & Grog, to create the spirit. This New York bar holds the largest collection of Irish Whiskey in North America, and was twice named the number one bar in the world. The Dublin Liberties Distillery is located in a building which was once a tannery where rabbit fur was processed. They also produce The Dubliner line of Irish whiskey. Dead Rabbit takes its name from the notorious Irish immigrant street gang in New York City of the same name. Its leader John Morrissey would later become a Democratic Congressman and Senator. The Dead Rabbit is made from a blend of Irish single malt and grain whiskeys. It is aged for five years in bourbon casks and then finishes in small half size 24 gallon virgin oak casks made by Kelvin Cooperage in Louisville Kentucky especially for this spirit. The Dead Rabbit Grocery & Grog and The Dead Rabbit Irish Whiskey has generated a lot of hype, so I am excited to finally get my hands on a bottle of their Irish Whiskey. Read more
Review: RumChata Limon
RumChata Limon will be released nationally in April. Living in the Midwest in March has finally paid off as a few stores in Illinois and Wisconsin currently have a limited supply on hand. The original RumChata was launched in 2009, and today it is the second best selling cream liqueur in the US only trailing Baileys Irish Cream in sales. While Limon is not RumChata’s first line extension, they currently produce Frappa Chata, 2 RTD blends of Rumchata, real dairy cream, and iced coffee, this is their first flavored RumChata. Throughout the years Baileys has introduced over a dozen flavor variants of their Original blend so it should come as no surprise RumChata has introduced a new flavor of their own. RumChata Limon blends Caribbean rum with real dairy cream, vanilla, natural and artificial flavors, and lemon. Read more
Review: The Whistler Blenders Select Irish Cream
The Whistler Trilogy was just released. It consists of three spirits, The Whistler Double Oaked, The Whistler Irish Honey, and The Whistler Irish Cream. All are crafted at the Boann Distillery in Co. Meath Ireland. In 1774 Drogheda hosted 18 distilleries. By 1822 that number had dropped to 1. When the Boann distillery opened in 2017 it was the first distillery to open in Drogheda in 50 years. The Boann Distillery is part of the Na Cuana Group which also owns Adams Cider Company, Boyne Brewhouse, and Robert A Merry & Co. Today we are reviewing The Whistler Irish Cream. It is the first Irish cream crafted with single pot still Irish whiskey. Every raw ingredient sourced is 100% natural, and 100% local. Every drop of water is drawn from their Boyne Valley well. Every grain of barley is provided by native farmers. The Irish cream comes from the Emerald Isle’s famous grass fed dairy cows. From milling to mashing, maturing to bottling every mouthful of Boann malted pot still whiskey is created within the family distillery. Read more
Review: Corona Hard Seltzer
Corona Hard Seltzer was just released. This is completely different from Corona Refresca. Refresca is a malt beverage with 195 calories that was launched with three flavors, Guava Lime, Passionfruit Lime, and Coconut Lime. Corona Refresca is more comparable to the Bud Light Lime-A-Rita line. Like Bud Light, Corona has decided to use their very successful brand name to help launch their new line of hard seltzer. This may have been a great decision under normal circumstances, but with the Coronavirus stealing the headlines these days the Corona name isn’t seen by many as a positive. Today we are reviewing their first four flavors which includes Cherry, Mango, Tropical Lime, and Blackberry Lime. Corona Hard Seltzers are made in Mexico by Compania Cervecera de Coahuila. Like most hard seltzers the alcohol base is made from sugar. Natural flavors and carbonated water are blended with the alcohol. Each variety weighs in at 90 calories with an alcohol content of 4.5%. Read more
Review: Teeling Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey
Teeling Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey is the first whiskey to be distilled in Dublin in nearly 50 years. Prior to it’s release Teeling had sourced their whiskey from the Cooley Distillery that at one time was owned by the Teeling family. Teeling Single Pot Still pays homage to a Dublin style made famous by the now closed Dublin Whiskey Distillery. It is crafted using a uniquely Irish malt bill consisting of 50% malted and 50% un-malted barley that has been triple distilled and matured in a combination of American virgin oak, bourbon, and sherry casks. The whiskey is non chill filtered and bottled at 92 proof. Read more