Ahead of Diageo’s new Irish distillery opening in Dublin, this release has a bouquet of grilled orange, barley sugar, Conference pear, and vanilla cream laced with white pepper. The warm, fruity palate with soft barley sugars, poached pear, moderate spices, and tangy citrus becomes increasingly sweet, with vanilla dominating proceedings in the later phase. Easy to like, this makes me want to experiment and start mixing it up.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2019)