Ransom The Emerald 1865 Straight American Whiskey

Rating: 14/23 I heard good things about this when it first came out and have ben wanting to try it since. It's always seemed a bit pricey to me, but I finally found it on the cheap side, so I pulled the trigger. I'm interested to see how much like an Irish whiskey this is. N: Um, what? This has a lot of vegetal funk (and other funk) going on. Nothing here seems Irish. If I'd had to guess what I was smelling, I'd have guessed rhum agricole. It's very oily, but sort of like motor oil. A bit of tar, sugar cane, I'm getting somewhat rotting vegetation, grass, soy sauce, meat. I had a Japanese rum like this once. The meat here seems kind of like underaged rough distillate. Digging deeper, I do get a hint of that clean Irish oiliness behind the grass and it leads into a whiff of tangerine, apple, and floral vanilla, but that quickly vanishes behind the meat and soy sauce. It's a fairly complex nose, but it's quite out of balance. P: OK, so I'm getting rhum agricole, but more prominent is a yeasty American single malt - Westward, specifically. It has a ton of that Westward yeasty, papery funk. There's also a rubber flavor to this - though it's good, not like that rubber paired with ethanol that comes through in young, bad distillate. This is more like that Ardbeg tarriness, which does still make it challenging, but I like it. Some soy sauce hangs out with the rubber in an oddly successful way. No smoke in here though. Hard water minerality. A little oat creaminess. A farmyard character comes out, melding a nice sulphur with grass, a light oiliness, and a smooth transition into sweet apple brandy. There's a layer of vanilla here as well that kind of stands apart from the rest of the flavors. I do also get a little bit of cinnamon spice and some rhum agricole vegetal flavor like baby carrots mixed with a little zucchini. And maybe some other stuff, but there's a lot happening here. The depth and complexity here are terrific. The flavors are bold - almost too bold. The balance teeters, but it doesn't fall over. F: Barnyard funkiness mainly. Sort of a rye tartness and mintiness comes through at points too. Also, a bit of baby carrot here and there. I think there's still some more complexity here, but I'm having trouble describing it because it's very muddled. - Conclusion - In what way is this an Irish whiskey? This tastes more like an American riff on a Campbelltown scotch. OK, looking at the bottle, I see now that this is attempting to resurrect an Irish whiskey recipe from the 1800s, so who knows what it tasted like then. If Joseph Magnus is an indication, all whiskey tasted very different. So maybe if I'd read the bottle first (or just remembered - surely this was originally a big part of why I was so interested in this whiskey?) I'd have been less weirded out by this whiskey. At the end of the day, this is a great whiskey. It's very funky, but mostly in a good way. The complexity and depth are just amazing. I'm disappointed by how sanitized Irish whiskey has become, assuming it once was styled like this. So here's my dilemma now: Loch Lomond 12 (16) is also trying to be a spiritual Campbelltown whiskey. The Loch Lomond 12 is less complex, but it's richer and more coherent with a clearer maturity. I can sit and contemplate this for ages, but there are some off notes here, whereas Loch Lomond 12 is only lacking in that it doesn't have enough amazing notes. Also, although the palate is just barely balanced enough, the nose is not. The finish is fine, but its complexity is minimal, so it's not a really exciting end. In a quick side by side, Ransom's Old Tom Gin isn't as complex, but it's still fairly complex and it's much more coherent. Overall, I like this quite a bit. Its flaws are minimal, but definitely noticeable. The bottle does improve with age though, so they may all vanish. It's unfortunately that typical Ransom funk paired with a young age. Copperworks suffers from a similar funk until it has aged sufficiently, but then it's terrific. In spite of the flaws this has, I quite enjoy it. On the other hand, in spite of its tasty flavors, I find that it has trouble against low-end sippers like Compass Box Great King Street Artist's Blend (14). I was considering a 15 for a bit, but I'm now leaning towards a 14. This seems probably superior to Dewar's 15 (13). Considering the harshness of the Artist's Blend, I do think that this is a slight step up. I can imagine moving this up to a 15 in the future, but Loch Lomond 12 is clearly better, so I wouldn't go past that. I'm actually really close to moving this to a 16 though. If this just loses that bit of sulphur while it oxidizes, it will definitely be there.

Ransom the Emerald 1865 is a recreation of an Irish mash bill dating back to 1865 that is then matured in a mix of French and American oak for three years and bottled at 43.8%. This seems like an interesting recreation that’s worth a try and thankfully @ContemplativeFox was generous enough to provide me with a sample to find out how this turned out. The nose starts with soured, sitting-in-the-box-a-few-days-too-long fruits of apple, orange and pear followed by lemon grass, charcoal grilled shiitake mushrooms and pumpernickel bread then barrel spices and light oak with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with those sour and expiring fruits of apple, orange and pear followed by lemon grass, charcoal grilled shiitake mushrooms and pumpernickel bread then barrel spices and light oak with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with mulled wine, lemongrass, sour fruits of oranges, apples and pears, and pumpernickel bread. This is a funky and well balanced whiskey starting with aromas of musky overripe fruits followed by some herbal spice with a smoky meaty/vegetal note and rye spice that carries over to the taste and finishes with mulled wine that’s been crafted with sour fruits, herbs and caraway seeds, but the main flaw is the youthful abrasiveness due to the limited aging of three years that keeps it from really being exceptional. I’d really like to see what this tastes like with another three plus years of aging, as I think this could possibly develop to be a US version of Springbank. If you’re not a fan of weird and funky notes in your whiskey, this is not for you, but if you’re up to try something different and historical, see if you can find a sample or glass at a bar to try this one.

Since Ransom has impressed me at every turn, i took a chance on this. French oak and restrained maple on the nose. Thick on the tongue without being sugary. Mellow with bread notes and spices and herbs that evoke USA not Ireland - at least to this guy. Quiet fruit notes that make me think brandy or cognac or even scotch. Smooth, mildly tannic, stewed apple and pear finish. I’d be interested to compare this to some scotches as well as Ransom’s The Geezer and Old Tom gins. A fascinating American whiskey.

I love this distillery for their Old Tom Gin. I bought this bottle in Hawaii for an overpriced $95 because I was curious. It's interesting. The first night I tried it I had 3 drams and was quite impressed, although maybe not $95 impressed. After a few more tastings I began to pick up flaws. It's interesting and unlike anything else I've tried, but it's young whiskey that lacks polish and sophistication.

Batch #2. Great recreation of an Irish whiskey from a creative distillery. Sweet grain smell, little peat or wood. soft smooth grain and fruit on the tongue, creamy mouthfeel, but spice grows. almost floral/vanilla finish that lingers. I've been eaking this one out in small doses over four years, and like it more each time I come back to it. BANG!

Smooth, slightly peaty, nicely spicy but not overly so. Wonderful nose with maple syrup on breakfast barley. Very complex on the tongue but not in a typical way. The French and American oaks are clearly present. The finish is long and smooth. I could drink this every day if I could only find a supply.