Millar's Irish whiskey

Life is full of difficult choices.  Do I pay 25 dollars for Millar's special reserve or 30 dollars for Millar's 8 year old?  Well since they are both a blend of grain and single malt whiskies who is to say that the special reserve isn't about 8 years also?

So I went with the special reserve.  The taste is somewhere between Irish Manor and Michael Collins.  It has the warm malty finish of Irish Manor.  Only minor caramel notes like Michael Collins.  I like this one.  I think I like Michael Collins the best, but they are all very similar.  In terms of boozenomics I think I'd rank Michael Collins on top and Millars on the bottom, but that said I think Millars is a fine whiskey.

Also, I know that this is another Cooley blend.  Typical Cooley bottling (bottle shaped like Dewar's bottle).  Familiar Cooley taste.  I know that Cooley is trying to make Irish whiskey that competes with Scottish whisky.  And I appreciate that.  Blended Scotch whisky is still the biggest seller around.  It has cache.  I'm usually not a fan because I am not into the peaty flavor usually found in Scotch.

Having said that, I am sometimes at a loss with these Cooley blends.  The bottle says "Adam Millar and Co."  And, "Since 1843".  Well there probably was an Adam Millar & Co. making whiskey in 1843.  And they probably went out of business by 1920.  So a whiskey made by the Cooley distillery and distributed by a company in Des Plaines Illinois is marketed as an old brand.

I sometimes think that their strategy is to try and trick a blended Scotch drinkers into buying their Irish equivalent.  The bottle looks like blended Scotch.  The labeling is as old as any Scotch blend.  I like the stuff inside the bottle, but I have to wonder if a Scotch drinker does.

Booze reviews: Michael Collins and Ironic False Cognate

First I'd like to share my two cents on Michael Collins blended Irish whiskey.  It was on sale for 20 bucks, so I bit.  If you are familiar with The Tyrconnel or Irish Manor then the flavors in Michael Collins will be familiar.  The same barley profile and lemony sweetness.  It is very similar to Irish Manor.  But it is not identical.  The difference is in the finish, which has a large almost chocolately toffee flavor.  It is, by my tongue, a rather long finish.  If you find it for 20 bucks I'd consider that a buy.  Also, they repackaged it in the traditional Cooley blend bottle, so it will now fit in your shelf where you store your booze.

Next up is Soberano.  You see the word sober immediately, but it is a false cognate.  Pan in Spanish is not a metal cooking thing, it is bread.  False cognate.  Likewise Soberano is not a sober dude, it is a Sovereign.  And how does it taste?  Surprisingly good, actually.  It is smooth and sweet.  I would rank the flavor profile close to the legendary Veterano.  The price point was good as well, 13 dollars.  Definitely a buy.  Much better in both price and taste than Terry Centenario.  Sad, because I wanted to like Terry.  Happy because I have a new go-to Spanish Brandy.  That bottle with the wacky netting...

Post Script:  Posting is infrequent and will probably continue to be so.  Life happens.

Don't come away empty handed

Sounds like the punchline to some masturbation joke? Oh well. I was back in Chicago, on business, and decided to stop in Binny's for that Amrut Indian whisky. They didn't have any. But I wasn't about to leave empty handed. They had two new Irish whiskeys. I bought the cheaper one, which looked to be another Cooley brand. Indeed it was.

John Sullivan whiskey. It was named after an ole' timey bare knuckle boxer. Similar to some other Cooley whiskeys I've had, like the Tyrconnell and Irish Manor. The bottle is tinted green with old Sullivan's photo glaring at me. It is a rather dry whiskey, with a citrus sweetness again similar to what I've had with the Tyrconnell and Irish Manor. Very different from the caramel sweetness in Kilbeggan.

The more expensive whiskey will have to wait for another time. It said it was from county Kerry. Could this be a new distillery? The name was rediculous. Irish wild geese and lonely heart's club band whiskey. Ok, it was really called The Wild Geese Irish Soldier and Heroes. Yeah, so on the website it looks like it is a Cooley whiskey also. So two new Cooley whiskeys in Chicago. No Indian whiskey.

There was also an intriguing new American whiskey. From Virginia it was a single malt pot still whiskey called Wasmund's. It was a bit pricey for a domestic, so again it will have to wait for another trip to the city with whiskey shoulders.

In the end I went to Binny's to get some Indian whisky and came out with some Irish whiskey. At least I didn't come away empty handed.