The Irishman Cask Strength Review - 2018 54% ABV

The Irishman at Cask Strength is a limited run vintage release. In the year of 2018, only 3716 bottles were produced, and it’s being sold in limited markets. There aren’t many cask strength variations of Irish Whiskey that make it to North America. 

From the producer’s website:

The Irishman Rare Cask Strength (53% alc) is Ireland’s most exclusive Whiskey, distilled 3 times and carefully aged in American Oak Casks. Each year Bernard Walsh selects a handful of exceptional casks to make this the benchmark for Super Premium Cask Strength Irish Whiskey. It is available in strictly limited quantities with just 3,510 bottles produced in 2017. Each bottle is uniquely numbered and signed. 

My review:

The Irishman Cask Strength 2018 (54% ABV)
Category: Irish Whiskey, Cask Strength, Non-Distiller Producer (NDP) 
Score: 91

Nose: Nice malted breaded intense notes, honey, and butter. Familiar Irish whiskey notes, just amped up some. Malted barley notes are vibrant, and there’s a touch of licorice. 

Palate: Sweet honey with terrific paprika spice intensity, rich caramel notes, some nuttiness, hard candy citrus, and terrific buttery notes. It’s reminiscent of a cinnamon heart candy, which is kind of surprising for ex-bourbon casks (that’s more common in sherry). 

Conclusion: A terrific flavour profile at cask strength. It really opens up after a little bit of time, so my recommendation is to let it rest for 5 minutes the first few times you pour out of the bottle. There’s a lot to love here. It’s an intense play on sweetness and spice, with these lovely complex notes that tell a full story. This isn’t a soft delicate sip of whisky, but it’s also not a cask strength monster. Instead, it’s quite warm and pleasant to drink. This is a vintage release, so it will taste a little different each year. 

Disclaimer: Thank you to the company for providing me a sample of this whisky. It had not baring on my review.