The Irishman 17 Year Old 2003 Single Cask
Okay, not Oaky
0 087
Review by @markjedi1
- Brand: The Irishman
- ABV: 56%
The Irishman has earned the Walsh family a fortune. They have even been able to build the Royal Oak Distillery, which recently launched the series The Busker. But of course the brand The Irishman remains one of the strongholds of the company. And in 2020, they launched a single sherry cask that is unanimously claimed to be a winner. My whisky friend Benny VDB was so generous to offer me a sample of his bottle.
On the nose I am spoiled with sweet grain, cigar boxes, straw mats in the sun and a cartload of red fruit. I am especially reminded of cherries and overripe strawberries, but after a few minutes of breathing, there is also a lot of peach involved. Corn on the barbecue (I double check if it is not grain, but that turns out not to be the case). Finally, some origin chocolate and the flkesh of a coconut. Slightly dry, though. There's a lot going on here.
Oh, wow! Yes, I understand the compliments immediately. Rich, round, sweet and sour and salty at the same time, with a cartload of herbs while the fruit is not overcome at all. Nicely dark and sweet now with plums and dried fig, peach, orangettes, chicory and espresso. Quite a bit of oak, it's true, but oaky this one is certainly not. Again, it's true, a tad dry.
The finish is its forte: long, sweet, fruity, spicy, full and very satisfying (despite again that drying effect, but it really does not bother).
This one is more than okay, this one is great, but I needed the word okay to make the title work, right. I'm sure you'll forgive me. Thank you, Benny, for the generous sample.