Midleton Very Rare 2008

Visual: Bright banana gold. Very rich and vibrant.

Viscosity: Very fast medium sized streaks.

Nose: Vanilla and toffee. Quite smooth. Touch of barley and understated oak. Slightly peppery. Honey.

Body: Pepper. Malt loaf. Vanilla and custard. Very smooth. A lime touch. The tongue tingles but never burns. Light malt chocolate. Water smoothes even more and makes fruitier. It also removes a lot of the pepper style.

Finish: Peppercorn. Light oak and light malt drinks. Sweet syrup. Oak rises slowly.  The flavours merge together with water to make a more simple but more rounded flavour.

Conclusion: This one has a reputation and when I saw the chance to try it by the measure in a local pub I was surprised. I was initially sceptical the sign was true, but here it is, in my hand.

At first the whiskey seemed quite closed. Sweet and smooth but it wasn’t distinct. The day’s heat however soon got the aromas flowing and produced an understated oak and pepper amongst the sweetness. This proved be the distinctive back of the whiskeys character.