The Whistler 10 Year Old

I tasted some Irish stuff from The Whistler before, but was recently given a sample of this 10 years old by my buddy Manny. The label boldly states ‘How The Years Whistle By’. A bit odd, considering that this is sourced whisky and not spirit distilled at the Boann Distillery. Anyway, the proof of the pudding etcetera. Let’s get to work.

The nose is good. Lots of fruit like apricots, melon and overripe banana, lots of orange peel and floral honey. Very accessible. Just a slight metallic note all the way in the back detracts a little from its freshness.

Unfortunately, just like with the 5 years old I recently tried, it cannot fulfill the promise of the nose on the palate. The fruit returns, but is overpowered by a candy-like note as if from chewing gum and cuberdons, while a very sweet and sour note as if from grapefruit takes the reigns. Salted caramel and aspartame start to take over. It also turns a bit alcoholic, which saddens me.

The finish is medium long on spicy oak with some walnuts and chewing tobacco at the end. But it dies a surprisingly salty death… is that ketchup? Strange and not totally satisfying.

Still much better than what I tried from them so far, but not yet a top dram. Around 40 to 60 EUR, depending on where you shop.