After exactly six weeks in Ireland—five of those in Dublin—we are headed back to Minnesota tomorrow. Regardless, I am going close the month out with an extended run of reviews of Irish whiskeys. Last week I reviewed a threesome from three different producers. Two were entry-level blends (The Irishman: The Harvest and the West Cork distillery’s Black Cask); and one was a peated single malt (W.D. O’Connell’s Bill Phil). This week’s whiskeys are all from the same producer. Walsh Whisky are the ones who put out the Irishman series. That series has quite a few releases in it at this point and the same is true of their better-known line, Writers’ Tears. I’ll be reviewing three from that line this week: the Copper Pot, which is their entry-level blend, bottled at 40%; the Double Oak, which steps up a bit in price and abv at 46%; and finally the Cask Strength, which is priced as a premium whiskey. First up, the Copper Pot. This is a blend of single pot still and single malt Irish whiskey, all of it distilled from barley. It’s all triple-distilled and unpeated and the maturation is in “flame charred” bourbon casks. No word on the likely age of the pot still and single malt constituents. Draw your own conclusions.
Writers’ Tears, Copper Pot (40%; from a miniature)
Nose: A pleasant sweet opening with light caramel, vanilla and cream along with a touch of stewed apple. More vanilla with time but no other change worth remarking. With a couple of drops of water there’s some muskier fruit but it doesn’t quite pop.
Palate: Comes in as indicated by the nose with a bit more fruit emerging as I swallow. A good bite at 40% and good texture. On the second sip there’s some citrus and also a metallic note. More of the pot still quality comes through on subsequent sips—that metallic note and some bitterness. Not much change here with water.
Finish: Long. The hints of greater fruit don’t quite expand—at least at first—but there’s nice warming oak spice and more of the caramel. As on the palate with time and water.
Comments: A very pleasant blend. Not one to spend a lot of time over but a good bar pour. Now to see what the Double Oak is like.
Rating: 80 points.