Redbreast 15yo
Single Pot Still Irish OB | 46% ABV
Score: 5/10
Average.
TL;DR
Nice bottle, nice nose, mediocre palate
A stream of consciousness rant… Is this what journaling is for?
I’m getting married this year. At 38 years young, I'm starting to feel a greater sense of responsibility. I’ve never had any real responsibility or dependants in life to dictate where my time and money go, other than cats that need to be loved and a fiancée who needs to be fed at regular intervals.
Now with a lifetime commitment on the horizon and the possibility of children in the future, it’s a bit late I admit, but I’m starting to feel like a real adult.
And like life mirrors everything else, I’ve entered a new phase in my whisky journey, and also in my relationship with alcohol. It’s fun to sit with my partner Caroline over a dram or two with no other distractions and talk about the whisky in front of us, among other things. I like to get her opinion on the whiskies I review, and any of her own perspective she brings to the table is factored in. We do this less these days since now we limit alcohol consumption to weekends and special occasions - no more mindless dramming on a Tuesday night while bingeing on Netflix.
These days it seems many whisky enthusiasts are reporting they plan on buying less whisky in the coming year than they have in previous years. Falling into this category as well, not only am I buying less, but I’m also drinking much less. Over the last few years and as I get further into this hobby, aided by a pandemic, the pull of alcohol on my consciousness has strengthened and I find myself wanting to break habits and loosen the grasp of this fantastic substance that we all know is addictive - whether or not we admit it to ourselves. Problem or not, if you imbibe you are playing the game - your chips are on the table, so they say. But that’s how it is with many enjoyable things in our day to day, and sometimes threading the needle is the spice of life.
“It would be pretty easy to be a rummy, wouldn’t it, Eddy?”
I’m not chasing bottles any more - not that much chasing was even possible living in the whisky desert that is Ontario. Becoming more of an opportunist in buying sales and taking opportunities when I’m in the right place at the right time seems to be more my speed. If it’s there for me, that’s great, and if I miss it, that’s ok too. I’m getting comfortable with the number of open bottles growing with no intention of finishing them off - a futile goal that has only led me to overconsumption.
Our individual bubbles have been drawn smaller in the last few years with lots of time for looking inwards. Now it’s time to start looking outwards and a wedding is a great excuse to reach out and reconnect. The family I enjoy but don’t talk to as much as I should, and the friends that may have drifted a bit over the years. That’s how I’m looking at it as we plan our celebration. People are so loving and if you can make the effort to show up and just be there, that’s most of the secret to life. Whisky should be the same, which is what I’m learning after freshly joining a local whisky club late last year, and also through Dramface which is also providing me with new like-minded friends. I’m looking forward to seeing where this all goes.
As you can probably tell I’m feeling a little reflective and emotional (this is probably the fastest I’ve ever written a preamble so no judgments please). To fit the mood of looking back but also forward in anticipation of something new, I’ve dug out a forgotten bottle that feels new. It was opened around Christmas, half drunk in a hurry, then relegated to a closet up north at the family cottage where it hasn’t seen the light of day for more than a year.
Review
Redbreast 15yo, Single pot still Irish whiskey, Official bottling, 46% ABV
£80-85 (CAD$135)
I’ll admit I don’t know much about Irish whiskey or really tasted many for that matter aside from your typical Jameson, a couple of Spots, and this one's core range partner, the much loved but we-all-wish-it-had-more-oomph Redbreast 12yo. Single pot still Irish whiskey is where the good stuff is, I think. This version of Redbreast is presented at a higher ABV and should bring that oomph we’re looking for.
I’m sure I’m not over simplifying here when I say this is basically a single malt Scotch, mashed with a bit of unmalted barley and triple distilled. What more could we need to know? I kid, I kid… That’s why our two Irish contributors, Hamish and Archie are here giving their thoughts as well.
Score: 5/10
Average.
TL;DR
A decent, if slightly flat, experience
Nose
Walnuts, toffee, medium-red fruits, and something green (wet grass?). A deeper dive gives Christmas oranges with cloves, cranberry, brandy and cool feeling light mint.
Palate
A bit nondescript, it mostly tastes like whiskey (I’m struggling here folks). In the mouth it feels younger than 15 years and thinner than expected. Sour oak, caramel. It spreads evenly on the tongue with creamy vanilla, nutmeg, and slight milk chocolate.
The Dregs
The overall experience of this whiskey is a good one. I like the bottle design with “single pot still” embossed in its green glass and a nice green stopper. It fits in perfectly next to the fire with a book on a cold late-winter’s night.
After my first few tastes I was coming up short for flavour descriptors and had to pour a different whisky just to recalibrate and make sure my palate wasn’t off. It wasn’t - single cask Orkney came through strongly with a roundhouse kick to the mouth confirming that it was indeed the Redbreast that was coming up flat.
Could a year at half level have caused a loss of flavour? I’m not sure but I doubt it. I don’t remember it blowing my socks off when it was first opened. It doesn’t share the distinct Irish single pot still character I’ve enjoyed in the 12 year old and Green Spot. It drinks well however, and there’s nothing off putting or troublesome here, but there’s not much about this particular whiskey that makes me want to reach for it when it’s time for a dram. Maybe I’ll forget about it for another year and see what happens when it’s new again.
Score: 5/10 AMc
Hamish’s Review
Redbreast 15yo, Single pot still Irish whiskey, Official bottling, 46% ABV
£80-85 (CAD$135)
Score: 5/10
Average.
TL;DR
Not as good as I’d hoped
Nose
Oak. MDF board. Sawdust. Wood varnish mixed with bags of spice such as nutmeg, cloves and white pepper. Green apples and walnut shavings. The nose is quite prickly and spice heavy so it’s a bit off putting. Trying to tease out more and explore further has me pulling back quicker from the glass quicker than I’d like to. Some custard wafers and oats, while I’m getting a little hint of chocolate orange and shortbread biscuits.
Palate
Here’s that spice from the nose right up front. Liquorice, aniseed with cinnamon and a heavy, heavy oak element. Some sweetness appears in the form of toffee apples, honey and porridge oats. That all turns quite sour and astringent as the dram develops on the tongue. Quite a tingly mouth sensation with this one, thick enough with a nice coating overall. Resinous, with hints of burnt coffee grounds and a weird element of uncooked button mushrooms. A long finish, with you guessed it, spice and oak for days.
The Dregs
Quite disappointed with this one to be honest. I’m a huge fan of all things Irish pot still whiskey, as it offers a real unique mouthfeel and flavour profile that you don’t find in any other whisky. The presentation of this one is fabulous, perhaps a hint of colouring added but at 46% and non-chill filtered we can’t ask for much more.
The mouthfeel is perhaps the main positive point I could state for this. It’s super spiced and oak-forward on the nose and the palate. Not many more depths or dimensions to the liquid sadly, as those strong flavours dominate and don’t allow any nuance or complexity to show itself. It’s not a horrible whiskey by any stretch of the imagination, and a slight improvement on the standard 12 year old from the Redbreast range. Which would probably score a 4 from me. For the price, it’s not worth it. There are more enjoyable pot still Irish whiskies out there that you can get more enjoyment from. Dingle Pot Still comes to mind, Drumshambo Pot Still and Glendalough Pot Still. Albeit these recommendations are young in age, they offer something different in experience while a work in progress from the distilleries.
Score: 5/10 HF
Archie’s Review
Redbreast 15yo, Single pot still Irish whiskey, Official bottling, 46% ABV
£80-85 (CAD$135)
Single pot still as an entity nearly disappeared completely had Irish Distillers not resurrected the Redbreast brand in 1991 after a five year hiatus. The 12yo has gone on to garner near legendary status amongst Irish whiskey drinkers and rightly so, it is an excellent dram.
Of course, demand grew for an older expression of the standard 12yo and eventually in 2005 demand was somewhat sated with the arrival of the 15yo bottled for La Maison Du Whisky. Perhaps this was a bottling to test the waters for an expansion of the Redbreast range but at the time it was very much stated that this was a one off bottling. Anyway, it was very successful and became part of Irish whiskey lore (I do have a sample of this kicking around somewhere so I must dig it out). Oh, if only it would become a constant in the Redbreast range.
Well in 2010 it did become a constant feature on the Redbreast roster. Even better it’s presentation over the 12 year old was enhanced with it being bottled at 46% ABV and also being non chill filtered, something all us whiskey fans like to see.
Obviously this means that it’s substantially better than the 12 year old… doesn’t it?
Score: 6/10
Good stuff.
TL;DR
Solid but not exciting
Nose
Quite subdued and restrained, time is needed to pull out aromas. Vanilla panna cotta, butterscotch, ground ginger and raisins. Sawn oak and furniture polish. Eventually we get some underlying orchard fruit with ripe apple and peach. Orange peel and malt. Then we get a herbal note and a touch of petrichor.
Palate
That fatty creaminess from the nose translates to the palate. The traditional pot still spice is there too but again rather subdued. Vanilla cream and honey with sherry notes of dark dried fruit and almonds. Mild ginger and nutmeg. Cadburys fudge bar. Then we get the herbal notes again – garden mint and chicory bitterness. The finish is disappointingly short leaving a menthol freshness along with woody spice notes.
The Dregs
On paper this is a dram that should take what I love about the Redbreast 12yo and then up the ante as it’s had a further three years of maturation, it’s presented at 46% ABV and is non chill filtered. Yet I have never fully engaged with the 15 year old. It feels a little flat and subdued and there’s a dry, herbal character to it that is distinct only to this 15 year old expression. It feels like it’s on its journey to develop the earthy tobacco and leather notes found in the 21 year old but they just haven’t quite coalesced yet. At the same time it’s not quite the energetic fruit, Christmas cake and sherry driven dram that the 12 year old is. I suppose it’s a bit of a moody and confused teenager.
The pricing is an issue too. The Redbreast 12 is available here for £46 at a local supermarket and even though the price has crept up a little recently I still feel it’s good value for money. At nearly twice the price I’d find it hard to recommend purchasing a bottle of the 15 year old. For the same price you could get the Redbreast 12 year old cask strength which I’d definitely encourage someone to explore, a very different beast to the core 12 year old expression. There is batch variation there but in general they have been consistently good whiskies.
Powers John’s Lane, Method and Madness Chestnut cask pot still or the Spot range would also be worth consideration if you want to stay within the Irish Distillers umbrella and at a lesser outlay.
Score: 6/10 AG
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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