Woodspices

Darn, the last time I tried this 12 years old Redbreast at cask strength was way back in 2012. But I recently got a sample from the Irish whiskey aficionado Benny, so I had no excuse to postpone this tasting session any longer. I have no reason to complain. It is a pot still whiskey, meaning that both malted and unmalted barley were used. It is vatting of both bourbon and sherry casks.

Lovely nose on tropical fruit with banana, pineapple and passionfruit in the lead, followed by a soft spiciness and some floral notes. I also get some pencil shavings and toasted oak. For a moment there it reminds me of a good grain whiskey, strangely enough.

Perfect mouthfeel. The tropical fruit returns, but is now partly overcome by lots of black pepper and vanilla. The alcohol let's itself be felt. All kinds of wood spices go hand in hand with candies pineapple, mashed banana and a truckload of caramel.

Very long finish on some oak, that pushes the fruit somewhat to the background. The woodspices linger very long.

This is very good stuff. Around 80 EUR. It is worth every penny. Having said that I did prefer the version from 2012.

The new illustrations of the entire Redbreast range reissue in 2019 are by Irish illustrator Denise Nestor. They show the eponymous robin frozen in different stages of movement. If you place the individual bottlings in the order 12, Lustau, 12CS, 15 and 21 next to each other, you can follow a robin when starting ...

https://whiskeylovingpianist.wordpress.com/2021/06/03/yet-even-more-bottle-polishing-spring-summer-2021/

N: Surgically-clean vanilla-ey [Greenore-esque] spirit, neat, one you’re going to want to add water to from the off. Diluted a touch, we’ve a firm NOS [capacitor] waxiness over banana in many forms – over-ripe/dried/pureed/pressed – and with papaya, mango [a little melon, > pineapple,….] dusty custard mixed with hollandaise,… Despite how that may sound, it’s never a truly joyous noser, always remaining slightly,… clinical.

T: Overall, a bold [punchy] clean spirity experience with a mild sour > ~ sweet green > yellow fruitiness,… amongst other things.

F: Not overcomplicated. Very clean spirited it remains with echoes of [ex]-bourbon, fruity < waxy < grassy vanilla,… popcorn,..

C: This took many many months to open up, and even then, I’m not sure I find it any better or worse than the standard 12yo [WLP86] – more ‘same-same but different’ and far pricier! It’s hard to believe there isn’t a sweet-spot [release] in-between the two.

N : light cereals and tropical fruits on first nose, a bit shy. It opens up nicely after some times on fragrant cereals and flowers (strangely reminding me the good side of cheap bourbons) and lots of mixed fresh fruits. It smells yummy but nothing sweet. A kind of sugar-free pastry.

M : Well I can't believe this is 55,8%. Blind I would've guess around 46 ? Because it's really soft, it lacks a bit of body but there's a little spicy tingling that goes with higher abv. Anyway, very gentle just like the nose and definitely not mind blowing. A touch of white pepper to enhance the profile and that's it.
F : A rather short fruity muesly, lightly lingering on dry herbs or hay and a slight chili slapback.

I'm left really disappointed with this. It's ok, but it feels like another mid-range bottle and not something you'd pay nearly 100€ for. I have nice coffee notes from the empty glass which make me hope it gets better and richer with time. 5/10

Spoiler alert a few months later : still very shy.