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Yellow Spot 12 Year Old

Average score from 6 reviews and 11 ratings 87

Yellow Spot 12 Year Old

Product details

  • Brand: Mitchell & Son
  • Bottler: Distillery Bottling
  • ABV: 46.0%
  • Age: 12 year old

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@cricklewood
Yellow Spot 12 Year Old

While Middleton’s modus operandi seems to bank on the historical names of Jameson & Power’s I would say that it’s had the most success with the brands It acquired from wine & spirit merchants. Both Redbreast & the “spot” line-up succeeded in reaching a single malt loving audience in ways it’s other brands had not.

Both product lines were created by independent merchants who bought bulk spirit from Midleton which they put into the various fortified wine casks that were left over from their main businesses. It’s a formula that works well in today’s cask finish dominated market and allows them to sell more of their whisky without seeing too much of an overlap in flavor profile.

The final subject in this Irish pot-still throw down is Yellow Spot, a 12 yr old blend of Ex-bourbon cask, sherry butt & Malaga wine casks (a fortified wine made using Pedro Ximénez & Moscatel grapes).

Nose: Sharp, sweet oak, mineral oil, the nose starts of tight, a bit of apples and jujubes. Yeasty, floral a bit of gooseberry. With time it gets creamy, like whipped cream on top of fruits & custard. There is some oak but it's in the background like a green sappy feeling, overall it's focused on the rich and floral.

Palate: Initially sweet, macadamia nuts, firm oak, coconut, pears and melon. Linseed oil & cooked porridge. There is darker notes from the casks, rich and perfumed with a slight musky center.

Finish: Apples & dried fruit mingle, there's a sharpness there but it is subdued under the richness of the fortified wines. Which in turn dry out rather than allow the palate to naturally decay.

Notes: It is quite a rounded whisky, initially rich and bright, it's just on the border of being too much and that astringent finish doesn't help.

So we now reach the conclusion of out foray into Irish single pot still whisky, what have we learned?

There is a thread that runs through all of them, a mineral, plasticine wax & linseed thing. This unmalted pot still distillate is a trip texture wise, it's super clingy and heavy no wonder it’s been successfully used as the backbone of the Jameson blends, I can see how this full bodied whisky can hold up to a heavy diluting of grain whisky.

All 3 had that powdered sugar confectionery note, like the powder at the bottom of sugar covered jujubes.

They also all had a little spirit kick left to them and some astringency I don't know if that's just the casks or maybe it's the ABV at which the casks are filled.

It's unique and breaks from the flavour palate you'd get in single malt.

@RianC I found the Green Spot better than the Yellow, despite the younger age (or because of it?) and lower abv %. The Yellow Spot was just too muted for my tastes. It opened up nicely with water, but I feel the Green Spot has more traditional Single Pot Still flavours and aromas. Maybe the Malaga casks throw the balance off too much for my liking. I didn't dislike the Yellow Spot, but I won't buy it again. The Green Spot on the other hand.....

@cricklewood - I've also wondered what differences a change in wood might make, cherry and mango especially. I'm surprised that no Indian whisky has been matured in the latter - lots of it about and it has a beautiful aroma. Who knows though, maybe it would be too perfumed?

@OdysseusUnbound

My experience with Irish Single Pot Still has been limited to various Redbreast expressions. Let’s see how this one stacks up.

Tasting Notes

  • Nose (undiluted): almost subdued at first. With time, there’s honey, peaches, lemons, apples, and a floral note almost like fresh spearmint leaves
  • Palate (undiluted): rich and full-bodied, sweet citrus fruit, oranges, bananas, a bit nutty (almonds?) with nutmeg and cinnamon developing
  • Finish: medium length, fades gently, buttery, croissants, shortbread, vanilla and just a bit of spice lingering, with a touch of flaxseed oil and bitter orange zest at the very end.

With water there are creamy coconut and banana aromas popping out. The texture remains rich and different tropical fruits burst forward: mangoes and pineapple. I think I prefer this one with a touch of water added. That does not happen very often. This whiskey is not “hot” when taken neat, but the flavour profile really does “open up” with just a few scant drops of water. The bitterness at the end is also diminished with water.

This is very friendly whiskey. Fruity, friendly, moreish, and seductive.

@markjedi1

It had been four years already since I had last tried the Yellow Spot. This Irish whiskey matured on bourbon casks, sherry butts and even Malaga casks for at least 12 years. Malaga is a sweet Spanish wine. After those 12 years, the whiskey was married to become Yellow Spot.

Grassy nose on heather, hay and honey with some nutmeg and loads of peach. Some caramel and quite some almonds. Banana and coconut. A hint of milk chocolate. Soft, approachable and pleasant, but most of all very Irish.

It is oily and sweet, but a touch sharp at first sip. Again that grassy character with the yellow fruit, but also some cappuccino and green tea. Toffee apples? Milk chocolate returns.

The medium long finish offers more milk chocolate, pepper and coconut.

Nice Irish, but fairly expensive for what you get with its price tag of around 75 EUR.

@Megawatt

Nose: Direct from the bottle, I would swear this is bourbon. In the glass it is much more subtle. A small splash of water brings out delicate fruit notes, along with vanilla. Very fresh-smelling, slightly grassy, quite delightful.

Taste: a firm bite to this. Lovely mouthfeel, flavours of wine gums and oak. Like Redbreast, you get that slightly coppery tang at the back of the tongue. It is not the richest or most expressive flavour but is nonetheless lip-smacking stuff.

Finish: a crisp, toasty oak-centred exit, leaving behind the lingering sweetness from the fortified wine casks.

Balance: this gives Redbreast a serious run for its money as the best Irish whiskey I've tried. It is stronger, less overtly sweet, with a deeper complexity that takes time to tease out. The triple cask maturation does it justice, enhancing the spirit without being overbearing, and leaving no unwanted traces of bitterness. A unique whiskey which doesn't quite justify its high price. A nice find on the clearance shelf!

Thank you for the review ! You've convinced me to track one down

@Frost I agree. This is really good stuff. Here in Ontario, Canada, it is a tad overpriced (by our already ridiculous standards) but not so overpriced as to discourage me from buying it every now and then. If I had to rate the bottles of Yellow Spot I've had, they'd probably all be between 87-90.

@PMessinger

Spicy yellow & red fruit loaded arrival develops a vegetal, herbal middle followed by long slow rich dried fruit coffee flavored finish.

@Robert99 I would say that the fruits are more like the Jameson, keeping in mind that I have only had Jameson's original and all of the Red Breast variety. All of the Red Breast profiles are not found in this version of Yellow Spot. Thanks for your feedback. (:

@PMessinger Is there a way to identify the batch as it seems the reviews for Yellow Spot are a lot better this year than last year. I would also like to know, would you say the fruits are more like Jameson Special Select Reserve or Redbreast 12?

@markjedi1

Besides the classic Green Spot Irish pot still whiskey, that is marketed as a no age statement, Mitchell & Sons launched the Yellow Spot a few years ago. It is bottled at 12 years of age. It is special in the sense that it is a mix of three casks: bourbon barrels, sherry butts and Malaga casks (a Spanish wine). Beware, this is not a finish. The whiskey matured for the full twelve months on the casks before being married for bottling.

Peach and pepper. That is the essence of this nose. Then a good dollop of heather honey, a light touch of nutmeg and hay. Something green that is hard to pinpoint. Almond paste. Soft nose, fairly sweet.

It is oily and sweet on the palate, with an immediate burst of spices. Some milk chocolate, green apples, dextrose and even a hint of cappuccino. The peach and pepper return.

The finish is pretty long, on apple and pear, supported by the spices.

This is quite different from the Green Spot, but I think 65 to even 75 EUR is quite expensive.

@markjedi1 - Shouldn't this have it's own bottle brand (Yellow Spot) separate from Green Spot ? A review search based on Yellow Spot shows zero results. It was only viewing all of the Green Spot items that I stumbled upon this one. Thanks for the great reviews. Very helpful, as are most of the other member's reviews.

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