2019 Top Ten Irish Cream Liqueurs
A little over 6 years ago we launched Best Tasting Spirits with our first spirit review. That reviewed spirit was Baileys Irish Cream. Since then we have reviewed 68 Irish Cream Liqueurs. I don’t believe anyone has come close to reviewing as many as we have. When it came time to select the Top Ten Irish Cream liqueurs we felt the only way to ensure we selected the best tasting Irish Creams was to sample fresh unopened bottles and review and rank them within a two week period. Because it is unrealistic to taste, compare, and rank 68 different Irish creams in a two week period, we first eliminated Irish Country Creams. Those are the Irish cream liqueurs made with wine instead of Irish whiskey. We than eliminated all of the flavored Irish Cream liqueurs. While all Irish creams are flavored we felt it was best to first find the 10 best tasting Irish creams and at a later date we will taste, rank, and review the top ten “self designated” flavored Irish Cream’s. From there we selected our previously reviewed top Irish creams and the industries best selling Irish creams. Over time some previously reviewed brands are no longer produced, and other brands have changed their formula. One brand Michaels, was one of our previously highest scoring brands but it is only sold in Texas and we were unable to source a bottle. In the end we selected 18. That group includes Baileys, Bradys, Calahans, Carolans, Coole Swan, Dempseys, Emmets, Five Farms, Kavanaugh, Kerrygold, Kirkland, McCleary’s, Merrys, Mollys, Mullins, O’Connery’s, Saint Brendans, and Trader Joes Golden Vale. To help differentiate between the different brands we adjusted our scoring as follows:
87-90 Silver Medal
91-94 Gold Medal
95-100 Double Gold Medal
How serious was I in selecting the Top Ten. First I reviewed each of the 18 over a 4 day period. I did this without looking at our previous reviews so as not to influence these reviews. I then compared brands in groups of 2 and 3 head to head over a 10 day period. When the testing was complete I had not only put a significant dent in each bottle, but I had gained 5 pounds. I guess this is what they call taking one for the team. So how well did each brand perform and who came out on top? Read more