Drinks of the Month

Redbreast Single Pot Still Irish 12 y.o. Whiskey

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on March 16 2013 at 15:04

How many Irish whiskies can you name? Jameson, I’m betting - and maybe Bushmills although they’re north of the border. I always like the idea there's a whiskey called Paddy though to be honest it isn’t much cop.

But as I discovered last year when researching a feature for The Guardian, Ireland does have some great whiskies of which the Redbreast Single Pot Still 12 y.o. is one.

It’s a really rich, warming style - perfect for this weekend’s unseasonally cold weather - half way between a highland malt and a bourbon to my relatively untutored palate. (I don’t claim to be a whisky expert though I do enjoy an occasional dram).

It’s triple distilled in copper pot stills, which is characteristic of Irish whiskies then aged in sherry casks - hence the richness and fruitiness - at the Midleton distillery in Co. Cork.

I suspect it would go well, as a delicious Midleton very Rare did just after Christmas, with a slice of homemade dundee cake though at £38.95 from The Whisky Exchange and Master of Malt instead of £100+ for the Midleton it’s happily less than half the price.

Whisky writer Jim Murray nominated it his Irish whiskey of the year in 2010 and the late great Michael Jackson (no, not that one) is quoted* as saying it “makes me want to get on a plane to Dublin immediately.”

If I hadn’t got a bottle in the house I’d feel the same.

*in Whisky Magazine

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