"No fuss, no roughness, just a good friend to accompany you on a rainy day"
(Photo from Whiskybase)
Matured in American oak and married with a small portion of Iberian oak, this single pot still whiskey is supposed to represent the original style that was made in the once famous Powers Distillery that was situated in Dublin’s John’s Lane. This distillery, named after the founder John Powers, was forced to close its doors in 1974 when a new conglomerate, which would ultimately save the single pot still style, decided that it was more efficient to produce all its whiskey in one place. This place would become the New Midleton Distillery in the County of Cork where the Powers whiskey is still produced today. A remarkable note is that New Midleton Distillery modelled its pot still after that of the late John’s Lane, which nowadays produced not only Powers, but also the Spot series, Redbreast and other specially released single pot still Irish whisky.
Nose
Starts extremely smooth and soft with melting toffee, sweet vanilla, milk chocolate, roasted walnuts, peanuts and freshly baked bread. Alcohol punch is coming through, which is a bit chemical, but stays reasonably pleasant. Then the liquorice notes come through, typical for pot still whiskeys, and in this case a slightly salty version. Followed by a fruity fragrancy of raspberries and strawberries. There is clearly development in the nose, which makes it rather intriguing.
Taste
Arrival is smooth and slightly sweet with apples, pears, vanilla, cinnamon and salty toffee. Spicy notes follow (white pepper) and a whiff of smoke (smoked salmon, roasted paprika). Slight bitterness of salty liquorice, some sweet fruits, and light notes of industrial alcohol and acetone. Finish is again smooth and soft, with a spicy bitter edge to it.
Overall
A clash between sweet smooth fruitiness and chemical cleanness. Friendly, and very likeable. No fuss, no roughness, just a good friend to accompany you on a rainy day (of which there are many). I think this might be a whisky that will grow on me and may just become one of standard ingredients of my whisky cabinet. I also think I might need to spend some time with this to fully appreciate it. There might be much more subtleties and depth hidden beneath the smooth surface then I have sensed so far.
- Review 2020-050
- Single pot still Irish
- Midleton Distillery
- Irish Distillers (Pernod Ricard)
- 12-years-old
- Unknown bottling date
- American and Iberian oak casks
- Caramel-coloured
- Non chill-filtered
- 46
- Standard range
- ±50
- Still available
- Whiskybase #22672
What others say
A sample of this was purchased from !
Scores
• these are my personal views, so do not take them too seriously… nothing beats tasting these for yourself •
- Melting toffee
- Chocolate
- Licorice