Review: Drumshanbo Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey
Review: Drumshanbo Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey
Drumshanbo is increasingly well-known for its delightful Gunpowder Irish Gin, and now the brand is moving into a spirit more associated with Ireland: Single pot still whiskey. This spirit is very traditionally made with unmalted and malted barley and Irish oats in the mash, triple copper pot distilled, and aged in a combination of Kentucky bourbon and oloroso sherry casks for a total of five years.
Let’s give it a whirl.
The nose is surprisingly quiet, offering a pleasantly grainy character with overtones of hemp rope and turned earth, and just a hint of nutty, orange-scented sherry buried deep in the recesses of its aromatics. It’s sweet but not overly so, with notes of butterscotch and almond on offer. On the palate, the whiskey comes across as slightly more complex, with the sherry character popping more effusively, but never with much aggression. A bit gritty at times, the whiskey shows a bit of white pepper and a vaguely floral element, all layered atop fairly expected notes of toasted bread and breakfast cereal. More orange peel and spice notes emerge in the mix as it opens up. On the finish, the whiskey again feels a bit gritty, rustic, and youthful, with notes of barrel char, fresh gravel, and some grassy elements all in a swirl.
Drumshanbo’s single pot still whiskey is never short of pleasant and approachable, but it never really moves the needle on Irish whiskey expectations and comes across as somewhat anonymous in the end. Steady as she goes.
86 proof. Reviewed: Batch #DSPS20/01.
B / $60 / palmbay.com
Drumshanbo Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey
$60
