McConnell's Irish Whisky 5 Year

Nose: Vanilla langue du chat with a little orange essence. A retiring, musky cereal note. Palate: Semi-sweet watery cereal arrival. Nearly devoid of flavour apart from a suggestion of citrus and a memory of salt. The texture is soft but weak. Finish: There is no finish. This is the most anaemic whisky I've tasted for a good while. I thought the "Pure Scot" from Bladnoch that I tasted not long ago was bad, but this ... There is virtually nothing on the nose. A shy grainy vanilla presence and a sweet, vaguely musky overtone, and that's it. The palate is equally deserted. There is a bland cereal arrival, but no discernable development at all. Then suddenly it just stops dead in its tracks and is gone. The only significant aftertaste I get is the sweetness of grain spirit. I'm dumbfounded that this claims to be 5 years old - I've tasted new-make that has WAY more flavour. This is like neutral column-distilled spirit that has been matured in steel drums with a couple of old oak-staves thrown in for flavour. This bottle was just opened and I'm only on the second dram from the neck, so I'll give it a day or so and score it then, in case by some chance it evolves. -------------------------------- UPDATED WITH RATING After 48 hours this has changed its profile a little, but in both good and bad ways. To begin with it was bland but inoffensive as there was hardly anything to give offense. As it has oxidised, however, it has gained distinct notes on both nose and palate. Lightly buttery, creamy cereal, vanilla - a standard generic Irish blend profile. The problem is that along with the improvement there is a hard, bitter almost sour note in the finish. This is noticed even when it is mixed with Coke. I'm giving it the same rating I gave The Dubliner as it's very much in that ballpark, and like The Dubliner it is also overpriced. "Inferior" : 69/100 (1.75 stars)

Pale yellow color. The legs are par for the course. The aroma is vanilla cake frosting and non-dairy coffee creamer. Musty wood. Some broccoli and cabbage water sulfurics. There is a chemical magic marker scent, or jet-black car exhaust fumes. The taste is vanilla, the same creamy cake frosting. Just a hint of lemon drop. I'm getting a sort of menthol coolness, with an ashy tobacco smoke following close behind. It's dark and dry, like burnt charcoal briquettes. The finish is astringent and metallic. There are barrel tannins galore. Salt and white pepper, charred cigar box wood and a dry, chalky feel. Charred wood and tobacco ash with more minty coolness. There is a distinctively inky finish too, like a pen you were chewing that exploded in your mouth. McConnell's is a decent, nicely-priced Northern Irish offering. It's got a dry, ashy quality that is tempered by some vanilla sweetness. It improves slightly with a big ice cube to smooth out some of the sharper edges.

Nose: Shortbread biscuits and cracked wheat in milk, slight peatiness, smoky plantain, sweet fresh caramel, sweet and soft cornbread, green apple candies, lemon peel and lemon cream, ripe Bartlett pear, manukah honey, cocoa powder, French toast, lemon brioschi, sour cherry, red liquorice, baking spices (black pepper clove and nutmeg), wheat breakfast cereal, jalapeño and habanero peppers, chocolate syrup, atole, toffee, slightly grassy and spearmint, play dough, caramel and buttercream icing, old but sweet American oak, butter pecan pie Palate: Honeyed wheat cereal, spicy apple peels, smoky barley, buttermilk, toffee sweetness, faint spicy oak, cream of wheat, spearmint with a touch of pepper mint and sage, a hint of fresh maltiness and fresh barley Finish: white chocolate cookies with dark chocolate chips inside, wheat cereal with honey, spicy apple peels, old caramelized oak

Obviously, this is no Redbreast or Spot whiskey. It is a value priced Irish, yet it is a far superior whiskey in terms of both flavor profile and value when compared to the standard, uber mass-produced and grain whiskey lead white label varieties from Jameson and Bushmills. Considering this whisky is only five years old, it has completely thrown off the nausea inducing shackles of rubbing alcohol which I find to be quite prominent in Jameson white label. If you’re looking for complexity, seek Scotch single malt. If simple, yet pleasant drinkablity is your jam, McConnell’s has you covered. Spend the extra $5 and upgrade from the standard fare. You won’t be disappointed.

Tastes like a mix between Irish whiskey and scotch. Musky and slightly smoky. This is a good introduction whiskey to scotch, and it is also good to get if you want an Irish whiskey that is just different. Relatively smooth for the price.

The oldest to come FROM Ireland. Like, anyone who left Belfest in 1776, had a bottle of this. Similar to Bushmills, it's good core whiskey from Ireland. Fresh, Grainy.. sipper.