This blend of single malt and pot still whiskeys exhibits the incredible synergy between chocolate, cinnamon, and pot still spices. Vinous at times from partial cognac-cask maturation, this has aromas of dark berry fruit, cinnamon, fudge, milk chocolate, malt biscuits, jellied fruit, and a smudge of dry spices. Compelling, well-structured whiskey, with cinnamon, chocolate, dark toffee, pepper, and ginger. It’s never cloying, nor overly sweet, just a richly rewarding glass.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2019)

Rich, malty, and bursting with pot still spices, time enables the appearance of deeper layers of toffee, Brazil nut, cherry, sultana cake, espresso foam, and the aromas of a dark cigar wrapper. Mouth-filling flavors of dark caramel, nuts, orange, clove, milk chocolate, and toasted almond, with firecracker pot still spices. A drying finish with malt, amaretti, and espresso. This is epic stuff. (1,500 bottles for the U.S.)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2021)

The nose is rich and oily with Bramley apple peels, brown butter, walnut oil, and exotic woods. Hugely satisfying mouthfeel of toffee, nut, malt, and baked sugar as pepper and clove take flight, leaving baked apple, walnut, currant, and ripening plum. This achieves perfect center ground between the sweetness, spice, and mizunara wood, and the spice combination from the 9-month finish and single pot still is divine. (1,200 bottles for the U.S.)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2022)

Good complexity here, with malt, toffee, clementine peel, creamy vanilla, flapjacks, peppercorn, and brown sugar sprinkled over baked apple and pear tarts. Beautiful flavors of sugared nuts, orange fondant cream, then wave after wave of intense spices. It’s wonderful neat, adding lush caramel, marmalade, and nutty flavors toward the end. This is twice as scarce as last year, so get your skates on. (2,580 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2019)

A stunning effort, with honey, sunflower seeds, zested orange, toasted flapjacks, nectarine, kiwi, and lime, with the citrus opening up with water. Superb to see a delicious, drinkable cask-strength whiskey showing off its flavors this well: honey, citrus, sweet toffee, vanilla pod, and a spice blast of pepper before a soft, flowing fruitiness is enveloped by ground ginger. Clove, peppercorn, and fresh ginger make for an epic finish. (5,175 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2019)

Well, the name's spot on because at that price it definitely brought tears to this writer's eyes. What a shame, because the liquid is eye-watering, too, a stunning big bruiser of a whiskey that coats the mouth as berry and green fruits battle it out with oak, spice, and grain oils — the whiskey equivalent to one of singer Sinead O'Connor's rants — powerful, impressive, a little bitter and twisted, utterly unforgettable, and unmistakably Irish. €135

Reviewed by: Dominic Roskrow (Summer 2012)

Walsh Whiskey has rarely released better whiskeys than those of 2019, which included two expressions made in collaboration with the Legaret family of Deau Cognac. Here, they apply bourbon and French oak cognac barrels to the unique marriage of single pot still and single malt Irish whiskeys, arguably the most premium interpretation of the Irish blend. Aromas of dark berry fruit, cinnamon, fudge, milk chocolate, graham crackers, jellied fruit, and a smudge of dry spices. Compelling, well-structured whiskey with cinnamon, chocolate, dark toffee, pepper, and ginger; never cloying, nor overly sweet, just a richly rewarding glass. Number 10 in the 2019 Top 20

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2019)

In its new embossed bottle, this year’s vintage release has a complex, evolving nose with a huge hit of vanilla, backed by caramel, nuts, zesty citrus notes of lemon and lime, fragrant ginger root, white pepper, orange hard candies, and hints of marshmallow. Rich and indulgent flavors of shortbread, graham cracker, runny caramel, dried fruit, and citrus; the honeyed sweetness deepening to toffee notes, loading up with more fruit and nuts. (1,500 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2021)

  Despite the rolling pot still spices at its core, the aromas paint a sweet, fruity, and mellow picture. Dried mango, banana chips, ripe pear, meringue, and heather honey aromas conceal the spicy mayhem to come. Dominant spices surge through the mango and citrus peel flavors on the palate, leaving notes of fennel and cilantro in their wake. The spices carry on, beating the drum throughout the dry finish.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2022)

Toffee apple, nutmeg, sanded oak, and plenty of feisty spices behind the nose. The flavor is more refined with greater complexity; not overly sweet or fruity, but a smooth-as-satin mouthfeel with shades of pear, caramel covered in white chocolate, nuts, pleasant pot still spiciness, rich toffee, cocoa, and red chili. The cognac cask influence is gentle and works well, and it concludes with a hazelnut butter finish.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2019)

Taking a leaf out of Glen Breton and Glenfiddich’s book, Ireland’s first ice wine cask finish has a nose of sugared orange, heather honey, lime Jell-O, lychee, malt, and a hint of wood spices. A syrupy mouthfeel with curaçao, mixed peel, heather honey, ginger, pepper, and chile flakes, it becomes weightier and more medicinal, though slightly cloying, with flavors of aniseed, cough syrup, and menthol. Works better with water or ice.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2021)

Like the Writers Tears reviewed in this issue, this is from an independent company linked to renowned whiskey maker Bernard Walsh. It is described as of a style popular in James Joyce's Dublin (hence the name). Grain whiskey was a no-no at that time, so this uses no grain and is a mix of malt and pot still whiskeys. For its price and strength it is amazing — a big-hearted and full-flavored whiskey with an oily, apple-y pot still heart and cinnamon, nutmeg, and pepper spices. €38

Reviewed by: Dominic Roskrow (Summer 2012)

Blends of single pot still and single malt Irish whiskey without grain deserve their own category, but there’s no use crying about it. Roasted spices, Quaker Oats, light honey, and fresh apricot; a little reserved and demure. Golden honey sweetness, light citrus, green apple, peach pit, dried apricot, cereal notes, creamy vanilla, and a firm strand of pot still spiciness. Dry spice heat, citrus peel, and a dark vanilla aftertaste.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2017)