Irish Single Malt 15 Year Old 2005 Lichtburg #1 Rolf Kaspar

Rolf Kaspar is a German independent bottler that has quite a bit of Irish whiskey on its resume, bottled primarily in collaboration with the Hotel Essener Hof. This one, however, was bottled in honor of Lichtburg, a historic significant and protected cinema complex in the heart of Essen, that opened its doors in October 1928 and played an important role during the Second World war for the German propaganda machine. What makes this Irish whiskey so special, is that it matured on a former Armagnac cask.

Well now, this is a special nose. While underneath you immediately notice that this is an Irish whiskey with notes of tropical fruit and honey, there is something that completely overpowers it, which is not a problem in itself: mildly burnt applesauce (speaking from experience, let's not go there), blackberries and overripe plums. A truckload of cinnamon and vanilla. Very, very sweet. But it works, rest assured!

Delicious full body. Very round and rich. Immediately again those wonderfully tropical notes of pineapple on the barbeque, banana, plums and apricots, but also a sweet and sour touch as if from a grapefruit, before the spices do their thing. Cinnamon and cloves and then some. It gives this whiskey both weight and punch. The strength is near perfect.

The finish is long, sweet, warm, satisfying.

Boy oh boy, this was very good. And if I was a gambling man, I'd say this is Bushmills. Thanks, Benny, this was a great sensory experience.