Nurnberg’s St Paddy’s Night – Kilbeggan, Jameson, Glendalough, Bushmills, Connemara

We went all out this time – Irish music, a hearty Irish stew, and absolutely 100% an assortment of Irish whiskies! It was a merry evening that really ‘upped’ the ante for future Nurnberg Whisky Explorer gatherings!

So what did we explore whiskey-wise?

  • Kilbeggan 43%A friendly Irish pub kind of dram!
  • Jameson Triple Triple 40%A pleasant accompaniment
  • Glendalough Single Grain Olorosso 42%Interesting to try
  • Bushmills 10 year 40%Ye old standard
  • Connemara peated single malt 40%A bit “blah”

Let’s begin with a pub crawl dram…

Kilbeggan Single Post Still Irish Whiskey 43% ~Eur 32

  • Nose – Fresh, clean, simple yet inviting, floral, honey with a light citrus twist
  • Palate – Toasted cereal, nutty – mostly almonds, creamy, smooth and sugary
  • Finish – Light and pleasant

What can we say? It was a perfect appetizer dram. Easy to drink, very approachable, and uncomplicated.

A step up from the standard Kilbeggan, this expression is from a single pot still. Nice stuff.

Jameson Triple Triple 40% ~Eur 32

  • Nose – Caramel, cooked fruits – a generic melange impossible to distinguish the different elements, very very sweet
  • Palate – Much more character than expected from the nose. Now distinct berries could be discerned, some citrus and cloves
  • Finish – Milk chocolate, dusting of cinnamon

A triple cask of ex-Bourbon, ex-Sherry, and ex-Malaga, this is a wee step up from the normal Jameson fare. The combination created a dram which was sweet and sweet and sweet. Our verdict? A pleasant accompaniment when you don’t want to be distracted by your dram.

Glendalough Single Grain Double Barrel Bourbon and Olorosso 42% ~Eur 29

  • Nose – At first fumes – which isn’t so surprising for a young grain… then it settled down
  • Palate – Salty nuts, quite mineral, white pepper, spice yet also soft, it reminded me a bit of pancake batter, a hint of rose – like a light rooafza
  • Finish – Smooth with nutmeg

One only single grain of the evening, it was a welcome departure. Whilst others spent more time with the other Irish offerings, for me this was the one to return to…

Bushmills 10 year 40% ~Eur 28

  • Nose – Fresh hay, green apple
  • Palate – Juicy white wine grapes, malty, milky, like a fruity crisp with cream
  • Finish – Dry

Overall it held its own, reminding us why the Bushmills 10 year is a standard.

Connemara peated single malt 40% ~Eur 25

  • Nose – Green tea, iodine and seaweed
  • Palate – Grassy, grape juice, peat but not so heavy
  • Finish – Smoking at the end with cinnamon

Don’t laugh, but my notes were so scant, closing with just two words: Boring. Unidimensional. And now sigh…

Unfortunately, I did not take any photographs of our AMAZING dinner! For the carnivores there was a rich Irish stew. And for the vegetarians a delicious tangy spicy chili sin carne. Yum! Way too delicious and completely spoilt us!

Curious and interested in joining a Nurnberg Whisky Explorer event? Just find us on Meetup!

Interested in more Whisky Lady ramblings? Why not follow on:

Irish Night – Bushmills 10 year 40%

Rather than bounce around with multiple distilleries, our recent Irish evening narrowed its focus to primarily Bushmills.

For those not familiar, the Old Bushmills distillery can be found in Bushmills, County Antrim, Northern Ireland and traces its history back some 400+ years.

1st up in our combined Whisky Ladies & Bombay Malt & Cigar evening was the Bushmills 10 year.

Carissa’s tasting notes:

(Bushmills official website)

(Bushmills website)

  • Nose – Light, sweet, sprightly, a bit of banana, hints of vanilla, some honey, a whiff of spice all typical of an ex bourbon cask, mellowed into a soft caramel
  • Palate – Some fruit – apples and pears, very smooth and easy to drink, a hint of sweet spice like cinnamon, malty cereal
  • Finish – Was there a finish? Maybe a little light whisky sweetness…
  • Water – Hmm… honestly don’t… it was already quite ‘thin’ to our palates now more attuned to cask strength than 40%… and the whisky character is already quite restrained so best avoided

Overall we found it was a good start to the evening – one of those eminently accessible whiskies. While it doesn’t challenge, it does an admirable job of lubricating the senses with a sweet, sociable, uncomplicated yet pleasant whisky.

Here’s what the folks over at Bushmills have to say about their 10 year:

Bushmills Single Malt Whiskey 10 year old is triple distilled from 100% malted barley and matured for at least 10 years in bourbon season barrels which give it it’s honey, vanilla and milk chocolate aroma.

It can be served neat, over ice or if you’re feeling a little more adventurous, try it frozen.

We didn’t try it frozen, however…in a muggy Mumbai May night? Perhaps that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

Extra special treat for this sessions are guest reviews by different Whisky Ladies of Mumbai!

From time to time, you can also find other whisky related updates and activities on:

Irish Night – When the BMC + Whisky Ladies unite!

To the casual observer, it may seem slightly absurd that one woman living in Mumbai could be part of three whisky tasting groups. Yet each are unique and completely delightful.

Particularly our Whisky Ladies group attracts quite a bit of… ahem… gentlemanly attention with many men wishing to crash our female only party.

However the lads over at our Bombay Malt & Cigar club are a rather more civilised lot. Clever gents, they knew the best way to enjoy an evening with the ladies would be to extend a gracious invitation to the mysterious whisky women of Mumbai.

And thus the Irish night was conceived!

While it didn’t take 9 months for this momentum occasion to become a reality, many  most amusing efforts went into selecting more sociable Irish whiskies, with the gentlemen taking full charge of sourcing everything from the whiskies to pipettes to acquiring more Glencairn classes to even glass covers!

Bushmills Distillery 21 May 2016 (Photo: Arti)

Bushmills Distillery 21 May 2016 (Photo: Arti)

At one point some 10+ whiskies were being bandied about as options, however in the end they settled on:

Then a few more were added as ‘bonus’ whiskies:

As always, the proof of what proved most popular is what was consumed most during the evening… in this case, the evidence is quite clear! The Bushmill’s 21 year beat the pants off the entire competition. Followed by the 16, 10 and Steamship lagged behind…

Bushmills Steamship, 10, 16, 21

Bushmills Steamship, 10, 16, 21

Our venue host personally cooked an Irish stew as the focus entrée of a fabulous sit down dinner which followed our slightly inebriated pronouncements about the various drams. We even had an Irish themed assortment of music and naturally much merriment was had by all!

To say the lads fully embraced our Irish evening is a wee bit of an understatement.

As for the lasses? Let’s just say we are plotting how to return the courtesy… with a theme that may completely disrupt normal notions of what defines a good dram!

From time to time, you can also find other whisky related updates and activities on: