Irish Peated Single Malt 14 Year (1992), James MacArthur's Old Masters
Whisky: Irish Peated Single Malt 14 Year (1992), James MacArthur's Old Masters
Country/Region: Ireland (Cooley Distillery)
ABV: 56.8%
Cask: Bourbon Barrel
Age: 14 Years (Distilled 1992, Bottled 2007)
Nose: Thick and heady, farmyard funk, overripe tropical fruits, bruised pineapple, old gay, hints of menthol, mineral-rich, band-aides, pepper, smoldering grass fire.
Palate: Full-bodied, oily, tinned pineapple, preserved citrus, salted pickled plum, earth and farm, straw and grass, salty, wispy smoke, fatty preserved meat and earthy mushroom.
Finish: Medium to long with preserved citrus, burnt grass, and earth.
Score: 8
Mental Image: Buried Treasure
Narrative & Notes: The aroma was thick, heady, and farmy, with wheelbarrows of overripe and bruised fruits for a flock of goats and the occasional pig. The smell of animals mixed with bruised pineapples, old hay, and hints of menthol. A lovely minerality, almost copper-like, or zinc-based sunscreen developed with band-aides, white pepper, Sichuan peppercorns, and a smoldering grass fire. Full-bodied and oily, the flavor profile presented tinned pineapple, preserved lemons, and white li hing mui powder— a tingling salted pickled plum perfect for paring with acidic fruits. An earthy-farmy funk developed with goat paddocks, wool, straw, and fresh hay. Oily and salty with wispy smoke, toward the end were notes of fatty prosciutto, oranges, and grilled mushroom. The finish was medium to long with preserved citrus, burnt grass, and earth.
What if a distillery in Ireland produced a peated malt that tasted like an excellent Port Charlotte? This Irish single malt, almost certainly from the first years of Cooley producing a more notably peated malt, could easily have been mistaken for an early 2000s Bruichladdich product with its lovely farm forward profile.
I picked this bottle up on a whim; a local store had a few scattered in a general mess of bottles and had likely been sitting on them for over a decade. It is not often I find treasures in a store near where I live, there is not a lot of scotch out there, and the few stores on the island were long ago picked clean by the growing number of enthusiasts in the last decade. That these remained on the shelf likely speaks to the strangeness of the bottle; an unnamed peated Irish single malt with a big label that says single malt scotch (the tube was a reused design for James MacArthur’s other products, which were primarily scotch).
Overall, a true delight. I bought this bottle and immediately poured some after I returned home. I was so thrilled with what I found that I ran back a couple of days later and grabbed the other to share with friends. As Port Charlotte is one of my favorite scotch labels, and this reminds me strongly of Port Charlotte, it is no wonder this was right up my alley.
