Are you a Bourbon fan looking for an Irish whiskey OR an Irish whiskey fan looking for a new Bourbon whiskey?
Kentucky Owl may have an answer for you as they have released St. Patrick’s Limited Edition Bourbon Whiskey for 2022.
Yes, it’s a Bourbon whiskey, but it has had its own “Irish eyes” smiling on it. Here is what they did…
How they Selected the Bourbon
The Kentucky Owl St. Patrick’s Limited Edition Bourbon Whiskey (100 proof/50% ABV, $135 MSRP/750mL). Kentucky Owl’s Master Blender John Rhea partnered with Louise McGuane, Ireland’s first modern whiskey bonder and founder of J.J. Corry Irish Whiskey, to select these barrels.
They looked at rare aged Kentucky bourbons and then blended them to create unique limited-run batches. This is the latest addition to the Kentucky Ow portfolio, following the release of The Wiseman in 2021.
Kentucky Owl tells us that Rhea and McGuane blind-tasted individual cask samples, then again through multiple blending variations. The result features Kentucky straight bourbons aged 4 to 11 years, with some rich caramel notes and vanilla from rare older bourbons; spice and fruit from higher rye bourbons; and sweetness and citrus from wheated bourbons.
What We Taste:
Aroma: Pâtisserie along with whispers of cinnamon. Even a dash of strudel icing.
Taste: Sweet on the entry. An “older” more elegant sweetness than usual. Midplate has chocolate, citrus. Vanilla against mint seems to take over at the end against more bakery notes.
Overall: While lighter Bourbon whiskeys don’t seem as common when the price tag for limited edition, this one is nuanced and interesting.
It is somewhat reminiscent of Wiseman Bourbon and, even midpalate, has some notes from Kentucky Owl’ Confiscated.
If you like both of those, it has some highlights from each.
I hope to see more collaborations in styles like this in the whiskey community…This “Irishy” Bourbon may lead to a “Scotchy” Bourbon collab soon.
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