One last whiskey review for the month, and one last Irish whiskey review for the month (and probably for a good while). This is yet another Irish whiskey that I had not heard of before I purchased a miniature. And this is yet another case of my lack of knowledge not being due to the whiskey being obscure. Like Monday’s Lambay, Jack Ryan whiskeys, it turns out, are available in the US as well. So you probably don’t need me to tell you that there is no Tom Clancy connection to the label. Jack Ryan’s are a concern that bill themselves as “whiskey finishers”. By which they mean that they purchase spirit and age and mature it in their own casks. Many (most?) of their releases do appear to be finishes in a conventional sense: i.e they involve a final step of maturation in a cask type other than the one in which the rest of the maturation took place. And sometimes there’s more than two types of casks involved. They currently have a 5 yo released named Raglan’s Road that starts out in bourbon casks, continues in madeira casks and finishes up in imperial stout casks. You might say that’s a very busy life for a 5 yo but then you’d be a boring stick-in-the-mud like me. The release I am reviewing today is positively old-fashioned by comparison, being both 11 years old and only having passed through two types of casks: bourbon and then Guyana rum. It’s the second release in a series called the “Generations Trilogy”, all single malt whiskeys. The first was a 10 yo; this is 11 years old; and the one that came after was 12 years old. The 11 yo bears the additional appellation, “Haddington”. This is a reference to Haddington Road in Dublin, home to the Ryan’s Beggars Bush pub. So it’s a whiskey with a lot of information attached to it. But is it any good? Let’s see.

Jack Ryan 11, “Haddington” (46%; rum cask finish; from a miniature)

Nose: A very pleasant mix of cereals and lemon leads the way. On the second sniff the citrus gets sweeter, moving in the direction of pineapple, and there’s quite a bit of salt. Gets more savoury as it sits with the pineapple picking up a bit of caramelization. A touch of water brings out some cream

Palate: Comes in pretty much as indicated by the nose and then sweeter fruit begins to emerge as I swallow. Good bite and texture at 46%. On the second sip there’s a light tropical edge to the fruit. Continues in this vein. With time and water the citrus (more lime than lemon now) expands and some cream emerges here as well.

Finish: Medium-long. That burst of fruit keeps going for a bit, starting out in berries/bubblegum territory and then getting muskier. A bit of prickly oak as well. The finish is longer and develops as on the palate with water.

Comments: A very pleasant surprise. A balanced, fruity whisky that doesn’t really take anything off the table. Only missing greater depth and complexity but you can’t expect much of that at 11 years of age. Alas, I don’t think this is available in Minnesota.

Rating: 86 points.