Mitchell & Son, Ireland’s oldest independent family wine merchant, this week launched two special limited editions of their cult whiskey Green Spot. There were also a couple of other curios available for tasting. Here are my notes.
Green Spot 10 Year Old Irish Whiskey, 40% a.b.v., €250 ,(1000 bottles produced)
Nose shows intense wheat and honey with notes of dried fruit such as prune and Christmas cake. Palate echoes nose and is very smooth, with a touch of raisin like sweetness and lingers well. Reminds me a little of armagnac. If I was scoring and I’d say something like 90-92/100 or borderline silver medal to gold. p>
Green Spot 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey, 58% a.b.v., €850, (200 bottles produced)
The high alcohol level makes for a very lifted assertive pungent nose showing wheat, orange, honey and prune with a touch of fusel oil. Palate is rich but burns a bit because of the abv. Adding water seemed to dilute rather than release flavours but I probably added too much. Tried again later to get the balance right but concluded preferred the 10 year old. If I was scoring and I’d say something like 90/100 or good silver medal.
Also available to taste for reference was the original sample bottle of Green Spot 10 year old supplied by IDL that Mitchells selected. It was much paler in colour and the lack of caramel colouring seemed also to make it a touch less raisined or sweet.
The was also a bottle of ‘original’10 year old Green Spot dating back to a bottling in the early 70s. It would have been sourced from the original Jamieson’s Dublin Bow St. distillery, rather than Midleton in Cork. It was a very different style, much heavier on the fusel oil and for this taster not as attractive. Also available was an ‘original’ sample of Jameson’s Red Breast, bottled in the early seventies, distilled at Bow St and aged in the Harcourt Vaults for Gilbeys. It too seemed very heavy on the fusel oil to the point of being almost fish oil like and reminded me of very old Australian Rutherglen Tokay, (a fortified muscadelle, for those who don’t know this style), which gains a sardine oil like character with time.
The attractive livery for the new whiskies was designed by Terry Green, who now lives in the south of France, which would explain why I haven’t bumped into him at any Dublin tastings recently! Terry also designed the short-lived Bailey’s whiskey bottle.
Please note you can only buy these two whiskies at the shop. They will not ship. However you can ring and pay and they will keep the bottle until you manage to get there to pick it up - whenever that turns out to be.
