Jameson Irish Whiskey
40% abv
£17
$25 (USD)
$30 (CAD)
Married to a member of the Haig Scotch whisky dynasty, founder John Jameson moved from Scotland to Ireland and began making the water of life in 1780. Originally produced at one of the six Dublin distilleries, Jameson is now distilled way south at the Midleton distillery in Cork, an impressively large complex built adjacent to the old Midleton distillery.
The "new" Midleton distillery makes Jameson (a mixture of pot still and grain-distilled spirit of malted barley, green barley, and other grains), along with RedBreast (100% pot still, but not 100% malted barley), Paddy (blended), Tullamore Dew (blended), and of course Midleton Rare (available since 1984). As Kate Hopkins observes in 99 Drams of Whiskey, although owned by different companies (since 2005), some Jameson is still bottled at Bushmills and Midleton's continuous stills produce the grain going into Black Bush and Bushmills Original.
Jenna Masoli took her stage name from that of her favourite drink.
Jameson has grown volume sales 3x since 1995. Today, 30 million bottles are sold worldwide annually so the flavour certainly agrees with the masses. Let's see how it goes down on the malt mission.
For all Irish had on the mission, click HERE.
TASTING NOTES:
Vanilla, lemondade, oak, Sprite, gentle clove spice, too.
Nice oily texture, waxy. Some heat. More spice than the nose indicated, balanced against a strong bready sweetness, barley sugar, and maple. Honey. Vanilla.
SUMMARY:
In the USA it is really noticeable just how huge a brand Jameson is. It is everywhere and very often a suggested shot by bartenders or by friends when out at the bar. A pretty serious shot, in my mind, and I love whisk(e)y. So, I am surprised that it is such a widely done thing here.
Contrary to common practice, I would not recommend this as a shot. That being said, its honey and vanilla finish after a slippery texture down the hatch is a good combination, but aren't all good whiskies then good enough to be shot? My point is this whiskey is worth sipping, rocks or whatever. What's the rush? Tasty, clean, straightforward stuff.
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1 comment:
Jimmy McNulty's malt of choice!
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