Whisky : Green Spot Single Pot Still

Country/Region : Ireland/Midleton

ABV : 40%

Cask : n/a

Tasting : Neat in a Glencairn @ Home

Nose : As if I just opened a box of honey nut cheerios. Over time more smokiness comes through and the nose turns away from earthy cereal towards maple smoked bacon. The aroma of breakfast gives the impression that one could easily down a dram of this in the morning.

Palate : Breakfast remains the order of the day as a clean mild smoke and sweet maple syrup spread across the palate. Its as though an alchemist transformed maple syrup covered pancakes and thick smoked bacon into whisky. The only odd note is a bit of faint copper like a shiny new penny.

Finish : Syrupy and sweet like honey wine, medium in body, with a bit of unrefined alcohol.

Score : 5

Mental Image : Breakfast. Pancakes, cereals, bacon, and scotch. The sort of hearty meal that sends you careening back to bed.

Notes : Years ago, this was the first whisky I truly enjoyed and so I have fond memories of watching a small cube of ice melt in the warming glass of whisky from inside a log cabin while the cold winter wind howled outside. Sure I had had good whisky before and discovered just how smooth it could be, but this was the first dram that I really savored. It is also, in my opinion, one of the few low abv drams to still benefit from the addition of some water or a small cube of ice. For me, this addition helps to suppress some of the fleeting smoke and open up the strong maple flavor that is otherwise a bit shy.

After that first bottle, I was quite disappointed to discover that none of the distributors in my tiny corner of the globe carried it. For years I wondered about that great bottle. My how times have changed, now it is in all the local liquor stores, most of the supermarkets, even Costco carries in around St. Patrick’s Day. Yet, in the intervening years, my tastes have changed a bit— I’ve become more attracted to bold brine and peat. An empty bottle, from New Years 2016 sits on my shelf and I am happy to know I can get more any time I want, but until then, I think I might go see some other Irish Whiskies and see what else there is to find.