The Best Irish Whiskey to Mix With - Budget Taste Test

It's very neutral, kind of smells like glass. Welcome back friends, it's Anders. Today is a special episode because we are drinking Irish whiskey. We're not just drinking it though, we are going to sip on it and decide what we want to use to make a cocktail, which we'll make next week. So I have my go-to Irish whiskey. It's affordable and it's been my workhorse for a number of years and I'll reveal what that is in just a minute. But to get the other bottles, we did a poll, which was our first poll and I'm really happy with the results and we have five bottles of whiskey we're going to taste today. Hopefully this helps us, this is going to help me and hopefully this is fun for you. If you're new to the channel, hit that subscribe button for more sips, tips and recipes and let's have some Irish whiskey to the bar. So let's get into it, what it is we are doing. I've got Oz here helping me so that it's just not me drinking and pretending I know everything because that's not the truth. Well, you certainly know more than I do and so I'm here, I guess, for funsies but also I'm here because I really don't know anything about Irish whiskey so I'm here to learn. If you're like me and you don't know a whole lot about it, maybe we can sort of learn together and it'll be a lot of fun. Yeah, that sounds great. Yeah. Let's get to it, Irish whiskey. So there are four categories. One, you have malt whiskey, which is going to be made with 100% malted barley and that is distilled in a pot still, which gives it full flavor. Then you have your pot still whiskey, which is, as you can guess, distilled in a pot still. It is a minimum of 30% malted barley, a minimum 30% of unmalted barley, and then up to 5% of other cereal grains. Both categories are distilled in a pot still. Got it. Why they call one pot still and not the other, I don't know. I didn't make the rules but I follow them. Then we have grain whiskey and grain whiskey is no more than 30% malted barley and then the rest is going to be any other cereal grains, like corn or wheat. Frosted flakes. And then there's blended whiskey, which is a blend of any of the other styles of whiskey and all the whiskeys that we're going to be tasting today are blended whiskey. Blended whiskeys tend to be a little bit more affordable, at least where we are, and the bigger known Irish whiskeys are primarily blended whiskeys and most of them are triple distilled, but that's not a rule. They don't have to be triple distilled. It makes it really smooth. I've learned a lot already. Yeah? All right, that's a good starting point. So now that we have that out of the way. Yeah. So my go-to mixing Irish whiskey is Klontarf 1014. For years, this is what we've had at the bar and I grew to really love it. It's just a nice, easy, really nice sipping, simple whiskey and it's very affordable. Here in Chicago, it was $23 for a liter. All the other bottles are 750 milliliters. Although it's not as common as so many other Irish whiskeys. So when we did the poll, I wanted something that was readily available. The chances were good that you're going to be able to find this at your liquor store. We had some people say that they had very little experience with Irish whiskey. Some people said they've never tasted Irish whiskey before and others saying like, man, this is my go-to and they were listing some great bottles of Irish whiskey. Like the Red Breast 12 Year is a go-to for me as far as just sipping. It is so easy, so delicious and for me, it's $70 US. Yeah, we heard from someone that said it was, they could get it for $40. So man, we, I envy you. Number one was Jameson, which is kind of... Not really a surprise there. But this is great because this is an Irish whiskey that I think a lot of people are familiar with. Then number two, let me line this up. Then Tullamore Dew. Tullamore Dew. And the third one was Hauer's Gold Label. Hauer's Gold Label. Yes, which is in a new bottle. I was surprised to see that. Yeah, it looks real nice. Yeah, I think that happened this year. The idea was to have four bottles to compare. These were the three that won against my go-to and... Yeah, we have a bonus one. Yeah, I was at the liquor store and there's a bottle of Irish whiskey that I haven't tasted that I really wanted to. And I thought about putting this on the poll, actually. Bonus bottle. Slain. Slain Irish whiskey. There were a couple of people that actually mentioned this in the comments. That's what tipped me over. It was in the price range and I just really want to taste it. So it really comes down to what Anders wants to taste. Like these videos. Yeah, let me get these out of the way. First, let's start with the Klontarf. All right, the Klontarf 1014. It's called Klontarf 1014 because in the year 1014 AD is when the Irish defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Klontarf. So I also like it because Vikings are involved. I think that's kind of cool. We're watching the show right now. Don't give away the ending. Yeah, don't tell us anything. No spoilers, please. Yeah, I'm guessing they all die. This is triple distilled. It is a blend of pot still and grain whiskey aged in bourbon barrels, which is really nice. Sláinte. Really sweet nose. Really easy. That's so easy to drink. It's a lot smoother than I thought it was going to be. It's really good. I get honey. I got this honey, almost like a banana. Like sugary, like brown sugar. I also get like an apricot or plum. So I'm not, okay. So maybe you can help me out here because I think I'm okay at tasting like cocktails and picking out certain flavors. But I feel like I'm not that great at tasting whiskeys. It's a much stronger sort of powerful thing that it sort of like punches me in the face a little bit. I get sort of major flavor profiles, but not like subtle ones. Like when you say apricot, I'm like, I don't initially pick that out. So maybe you can help me out with how do you, how do you go about tasting something like this? I do feel like there really is no wrong answer. Unless you like said something really outlandish, you could probably convince me, you know, if you put that in my head. For me, the number one thing I got was honey. If I'm comparing this to other whiskeys, it's just soft and smooth. You could add a little water to this to just kind of open it up, but it's at 40%. It's the lowest proof that's allowed for bottling Irish whiskey. So it's really not hot. I don't, I don't have much of a burn at all. This is just really soft and smooth, which is kind of funny because this has been my go-to for mixing Irish whiskey. When mixing, it's for me, it's slightly difficult to mix with a smooth whiskey because you're adding other flavors and it's going to throw that balance off. I'd be interested to kind of find out how this would do in a cocktail because it's smoother than I would say a rye in my experience. A lot of the cocktails that I mix with with Irish whiskey, I tend to be a little bit heavier pour on the whiskey. So I'll go like a full two ounces of Irish whiskey just to kind of make up for that because it really is soft and delicate. I'm excited. It's tasty. It's really tasty. Yeah. Okay. All right. Shall we move on then? Let's move on then. The first choice in the poll was Jameson. So I've had Jameson, but I think only in like shot form. I used to work in an Irish pub way back, but I really didn't. I just didn't take the time, I think. Jameson. Cheers. I get... Really different. I don't get quite as much on the nose as I did for that one. Yeah. I think what that is, is I'm getting the bourbon barrel. Oh, yeah. That's what it is. Right. So this is also triple distilled. I believe it's single pot still and grain whiskey. Really easy. Yeah. Just like the Klontarf, very smooth. It's got a pretty color. I feel like it's so much softer than the Klontarf. Milder. Okay. The Klontarf has more of that, not char, but like burnt-y, yummy, sugary sort of smell and taste. And this is a lot softer than that. This one, I still get this banana really easy. So easy. Between the two, I personally would probably go with the Klontarf for mixing, just because it has a slightly bolder flavor. Yeah. Anyway, I'm getting hot because of the whiskey. So I'm going to take this off. Okay. All right. So next, Telemordue. This one looks Irish to me. Why? Because it's green? I've been to Ireland. Anyone been to Ireland? Or maybe you're from Ireland. I've been and it's a beautiful country. Wow. Amazing. I mean, clearly like some sites that like just blew me away in the countryside. You did like a biking trip there, right? I did. It was a thing. It was a long story. But in the end, all I want to say is it's a beautiful, beautiful place. Oh, and just recently bought more of these glasses for this video. I'll leave a link down below. A little plug. Affiliate links. You know, no big deal. Here we go. Cheers. I like the nose better than the Jameson. I do too. I get a little more marker. I always get marker. Yeah. I don't know. I got that on the Jameson too, though. Oh, wow. Yeah. I've never had this next to Jameson. This is honey. It's sweet, but hot, though, for me. And appley. I leave comments down below if I'm just like, no, but I'm so bad at this. If you're like me and you're bad at this, also leave a comment down below. It looks like apples. It's really soft, but you're right. You do have the heat and I actually like the heat. It has a bite more than the other two. For me anyway. It's sweet and hot at the same time. I don't know how this one would do in a cocktail. I guess it would might add a little bit of sweetness. None of these would be bad in a cocktail. I'm just trying to be nitpicky. Also triple distilled. We didn't mention this. I believe this is three styles. I think this is malt whiskey, pot still whiskey and grain whiskey. Moving on. Next. All right. Next is what? Next is Powers. Powers gold label. Yeah. New bottle. I really, really like the design. So far, I really like this bottle. If I were to judge a book by its cover. I also like the bottle. Nice work on the bottle. But don't judge a book by its cover. But also really good job on the bottle. So Powers, this one is 43.2% alcohol. All the others are 40%. So slightly higher. Not a whole lot higher, but a little bit. This actually, speaking of bottles, Powers was the first distillery to bottle their own whiskey in 1886. Really? Yeah. First, wait, first distillery ever? Yeah. To bottle their own? That's my understanding. Yeah. Prior to that, distilleries would sell, you know, the barrels or big casks of whiskey to a retailer or an independent bottler that would do it for them. But Powers said, we're going to bottle our own. We do it ourselves. Cheers. I always do this with my cocktails. Yeah, we forgot. Sorry. Cheers. It smells darker, if that makes any sense. The smell is richer. It's a very inviting smell, I think. The first thing I thought was coffee, but it's not really. Did you take a sip? No, I didn't. Oh. I meant just off the smell, but it's like a banana, rotten banana coffee sort of smell. I get coffee. I think you're right. It's really good. Oh, sorry. I hit a little hard. Much more complex. Of these that we just tasted, this is the most complex, I think. It's hotter. It is hotter. Really round butterscotch, buttery. Just the texture is really silky. I have had this, but it's been years. I was saying earlier, but I think I'm just more sensitive to like the higher proof alcohols. Well, it's kind of like with spicy foods. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I am sensitive to spicy foods as well. Now, when sipping this and looking for a whiskey to mix with, I really like that heat. Because if I'm looking for a whiskey that I'm just going to want to sip on neat, I want something nice and smooth and easy drinking and just balanced and round. You know, as far as picking a whiskey to mix with, I like something that's a little higher proof or something that has just really bold flavors that even if it's not entirely balanced, I'm okay with that. In fact, that makes it a little easier for me because you're going to be adding modifiers, you're going to be adding syrups and liqueurs, and then you can kind of balance out those flavors. And a lot of this, at first it is intimidating, but it shouldn't be. And that's what we want to do is just sit down and drink it and see what you think. That's really it. And if you prefer, you know, a bottle that everybody else is poo-pooing, like drink it. If it makes you happy, who cares? Exactly. That's our philosophy. That is our philosophy. Drink what you like. Anyway, this is really good. This is really good. Next. Now the dark horse. The dark horse. I'm excited about this one. Cool bottle. Nice. Yeah. I'm a sucker for cool bottles. I also like pretty bottles. I like pretty bottles. I'm just going to admit it. It looks nice. Makes you feel happy on the inside. My eyes are happy. Yeah, I say if you are, if you're starting out in distillery, put the money in to have a good design. Hire a designer. Because bartenders are going to want that on their back bar. That's true. I know I do. All right. So Slain Irish Whiskey. Triple casked. So this is not the triple distilled that all of these other ones are, but triple casked. That's hard for me to say. Casked. Thank you. What does that mean? So what they do is they take Irish whiskey and they age it in three separate barrels. So they split it up and they put some of it into virgin, newly charred oak. Okay. Lightly charred oak. Okay. And then they take another one and they put it in barrels that have already aged American whiskey. And this company is owned by Brown Foreman, which owns Jack Daniels and Old Forrester. So I'm guessing when they say American whiskey, it was aged in Jack Daniels barrels or Old Forrester bourbon barrels. That's a guess. And then what's the last one? And then the last barrel is Oloroso Sherry from Spain, which that's the exciting one for me. Okay. All right. Here goes. Slain. Interesting. What is that? Ocarina. The Ocarina of Time. The Ocarina. It smells like the Ocarina of Time. Great game. Floral. There's like a lightness. It's a little brighter, right? Brighter. Yeah. How fun. Smells really nice. Okay. Cheers. Kampai. Ooh. Kind of like get this like zing. Chocolate. Chocolaty, huh? I suppose I could taste that. Bitter, bittersweet chocolate. This one has the longest finish. I'm guessing that's the Sherry, the Oloroso Sherry cask. Kind of this slightly oxidized. Oxidized? That's awesome. When you say oxidized, I'm like, I don't know what oxidized tastes like. Not until like, I haven't had a sip now for a little bit and I get it at the very, very end. For me, it tastes kind of like funky weird at the end. Like. You know, like when you drink like a dry Sherry, it has like this savory kind of. This like sour sort of like weirdness. Like, oh, maybe it's a little off. Maybe this one's a little too old. It's so good in cocktails. It's really nice. I'm so happy that we tried this one. So fun. This one's way different, I will say. But I am definitely feeling it. God, I'm so sorry. I'll just desaturate the reds on my side. I have been called out for turning red when I drink. It can be just a few sips. And that's because, just an educational moment. Like 40% of Asians lack the enzyme to like properly metabolize alcohol. It sort of circulates in your body and it's like toxic, right? Basically, it's a poison. And so I do have that to an extent. That's why my tolerance is so low. I don't know. We probably won't include this. No, we have to leave this in because I before I met you, I didn't know that. Like I knew. Oh, really? I am 0% Asian. Am I red? No. Really? No, not right. No, you're not red. Don't make fun of people. And we just want to have fun. Just thank you. That's all I'm saying. In conclusion, in conclusion, now that we've had a lot of whiskey. I think we should just bring it all out. Come on. Well, as far as mixing, what I'm looking for are bigger flavors, a little higher proof helps, but doesn't really matter because all of these are around the same. So my go-to has always been Klontarf 1014, which I still think is a great whiskey. This was so delicious. Yeah, the two that would stand out would be the Powers and the Slain for mixing. But because I broke the rules and bought that bottle of Slain, I'm going to go with the Powers. And I actually think that Powers is a great choice in this lineup for mixing. It is a little bit more complex, just really nice, bold flavor. I think it's going to add texture. I think it's going to be good in the cocktail all around. So that'll be next week. And I can't wait to see what this Mojito tastes like. Like, subscribe if you haven't already. And next week, we're going to make a fun drink. So we'll see you then. Slancha. Oh, that was so loud. No, that was beautiful. I feel like it is a G. Let's find out. Oh, is that an F sharp? Oh, so close. Next time.