Single Malt Irish Whiskey 16 Year Old 2003 Rolf Kaspar

The German bottler Rolf Kaspar often works together with the Hotel Essener Hof, resulting in many a release exclusively for the hotel. A few months ago I was lucky enough to try a 17 years old whiskey and look: again a sample found its way to the Whivie HQ, thanks to my friend Benny. This 16 years old matured on a former port cask.

Raisin bread and apricots pie. So a dark and sweet nose, which comes as no surprise. Plums, dades, cinnamon, marzipan, but with a red twist: strawberry, raspberry, cassis. Everything you might expect from a port cask, basically. After a few moments a nice touch of pine needles kicks in, as does some red wine.

It is surprisingly oily and mildly spicy on nutmeg and cinnamon with a hint of cloves. A surprisingly fresh touch of menthol – did not see that one coming. The fruit returns, but now oranges are in the lead, followed closely by red fruit. Honey and strawberry jam. This is very good.

The finish is long with some bitter chocolate at the death.

Delicious Irish whiskey with a red twist. For those with a sweet tooth.