Kilbeggan Single Pot Still

This may be the shortest review I write. I try to keep them short. It's just, you know, sometimes I get going, I get wordy. Four score and seven years ago...! Just kidding. Actually the Gettysburg Address isn't long either. I think it takes about two minutes to deliver. Back to the whiskey. My first experience with Kilbeggan was the Small Batch Rye. I can't remember why I bought it, but I saw it reviewed glowingly somewhere, and there were only a few bottles left in my area, so I picked it up. I opened it on Super Bowl Sunday, 2020, with the Chiefs playing the 49ers. I'd invited my parents over and my dad brought along a bottle of Aberlour A'bunadh my mom had gotten him for Christmas. Surprisingly, despite A'bunadh being the superior whisky, the Small Batch Rye held up next to it. It wasn’t quite as good, but it had a distinctive identity that made me remember it. And two years later, when it reappeared, I nabbed another two bottles, one for me, one for my pops. I purchased this Kilbeggan Single Pot Still via online order, not too long after that Super Bowl, during the pandemic. It had appeared on Whisky Advocate's Top 20 that previous year, and it was affordable, but I somehow found myself in no rush to open it. So in my collection it sat. I kept consider it, and never getting to it, until this past weekend, after football, with my brother-in-law, after we'd tasted a Laphroaig Cairdeas, a Talisker Distillers Edition, an Ardbeg Beastie, a Nikka From the Barrel, and a touch of Barrell Seagrass. It obviously wouldn't have been fair to rate the Kilbeggan Single Pot Still right then since it didn't stand a chance against those others, but I wasn't feeling it at all and figured I'd wait. Now, it's a few days later, and I'm tasting it again. And I have the same problems with it on its own that I had tasting it against the lineup. Here's the thing: it's very Irish. It's got the cereal grain and the apple and vanilla. Think Jameson or Tully on steroids. Don't think of other single pot stills. This is nothing like Redbreast, nothing like Green Spot. I'd even had to say, I prefer the candy coated cherry cough syrup flavor of the Busker to this. The problem is the apple flavor is not, like, a good apple flavor; it's like an apple that's off, and it struck me very quickly why that is. There's this underlying hit of talcum powder. And the underlying aroma reminds me of changing my kids' diapers right after they were born. If you're a parent, you know what I'm talking about. There's this brief period where the poop is a light brown smear on the diaper (or a gush that spills out the sides) rather than a real solid poop. And it doesn't smell the same way solid poop does. It's kind of mustardy. Still not necessarily something you want your whisky to smell like, but not entirely 100% revolting, and that underlying hit of talcum here also reminds me of that newborn mustard diarrhea scent. And it's killing me. Because I feel like I want to like this, but that underlying scent is holding me back. It follows through to the palate and disappears on the finish. So, at this point, Kilbeggan is batting 1 for 2 with me. They have a 19-Year around here that I'm considering. I haven't tried the standard run Kilbeggan either, but I don't think I'm going to. Honestly, this whole mustard baby poop thing really might just be me, but I can't escape it. I think I prefer the Jameson Barrel Finishes to this. I might even actually prefer your standard Jameson bottling if only to avoid the talcum. I know I said I planned to keep this short, and I'm sorry. It's just, you know, when I get going, I get...wordy. I probably just could have said, "Baby Diarrhea" and ended it there. But I felt like, because of the Small Batch Rye, I owed a bit more of an explanation.

N: Overripe peaches soaking in apple cider, white grapes and/or white wine, grass and hay, oxidized apple, varying hints of stone and orchard fruit, Fig Newton cookies, prune, maybe plum, bit of lemon. Just a subtle suggestion of something vegetal and funky. Also feels like there's something more earthy and bready trying to break through from underneath all these softer and sort of off-key fruit flavors. I say off-key because all of them are quite pungent on their own and the nose almost has a vinegar quality to it - almost, but it dances nicely on the right side of that line. P: Very soft milk chocolate, honey, white bread (lightly toasted, I think), and slivered almond. Then the white grapes and mixed stone and orchard fruit return. As does the grass and hay. Softer peach and pear follow that and just barely break in before the pot still spices become assertive enough to remind you that this is single pot still whiskey after all. Finish starts hot with a generous dash of cayenne heat, accompanied by allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, coriander, but that all fades and softens to more of a cracked black pepper. Rising up through that spice is a faint toasted coconut (again, letting you know it is truly an Irish single pot still whiskey). Finally, a little chocolate and honey return to play the coda, and they brought graham crackers. How nice of them! This is not a terribly complicated whiskey, but it's fun and easy to drink. It's crisp and almost refreshing - as much as a whiskey can be, I guess. As a limited release, it is an interesting expression of the style. It's pretty affordable too. Worth grabbing if you like the single pot style. For perspective sake, this shares a similar character with the Teeling single pot still, but feels more rounded, less harsh, easier to enjoy. It is quite far from the robust and full bodied Powers or Spot whiskey single pot still expressions. It's kind of a dumb comparison, but I think it works here: this is white wine while those are red. I prefer red, as I assume most whiskey drinkers do, but I also like a nice changeup sometimes. This would suit that purpose perfectly. Hunting story: I read of this release close to a year ago and, since I love the Irish single pot still whiskeys, added it to my shopping list. I, of course, expected to partake of this fine dram shortly thereafter. Disappointment followed disappointment in trying to locate a bottle. A cornucopia of websites were surfed; a plethora of store shelves perused. Plenty of other Kilbeggans were found, but not this special one. But then, one day, there it was on the shelf! I had to do a double take on the bottle and also check my whiskey shopping spreadsheet on my phone (which I totally hate doing because spreadsheets really suck on phones) to make sure my eyes did not deceive me. I followed my "immediate buy list" rules and immediately bought it. So, friends out there, if you're holding out hope to find that special and nearly forgotten dram, let this be a lesson to you: just keep looking. And keep a spreadsheet. (Unless your special dram is an allocated bourbon. You're pretty much just screwed then. Spreadsheet won't help.) (Also, I feel like I may be able to cut and paste this same story into a Blue Spot review in about a year.)

Apricots and cream Nose fresh pour: heavy apricot, apple, and peach fruit notes with some vanilla attempting to make it to the top. A touch of spice. Nose after resting 10 min: apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, apricots, vanilla pudding, touch of grass, chocolate, raisin Taste: light and sweet on the tongue, yields flavors of peach and apricot, lemon, then vanilla cream, apples, spice, malt, grass, with a moderate finish

On the nose, you get predominantly bourbon characteristics from aging: cedary, slightly charred wood. This is followed by whole leaf mint and muddled parsley. The palate is creamy and sweet. Think snickerdoodles followed by grapefruit, orange zest, Granny Smith apples, and pear. Finishes full circle with black pepper and oak. Savory, sweet, and a good all around sipper!

Wow, this is REALLY nice. Hard to believe it’s all bourbon barrel aging, it comes off like theres sherry finishing at work. When I first pulled the cork and whiffed the bottle, I caught a bit of red wine. In the glass its all buttercream with some fruity notes, but on the pallet this could almost pass for a scotch in the vein of Glenfiddich/Glenlivet.

Received a sample of this one. Really like the nose on this one as it has a maple syrup/pancake syrup note which continues into the palate. An easy drinker with creamy sweetness, but not too sweet. I think $45 is a good value for this one and like that it doesn't come across as thin as most Irish whiskey I have tried.