Redbreast Dream Cask Ruby Port Cask Edition 28 Year

This was the highlight of a recent tasting of the Redbreast range, the name Midleton uses for a certain combination of barrels of its distillate. I slipped that extended description in there because I was fascinated to learn that Redbreast, the Spot range, Powers and the malt component of Jameson all come off the same stills distilling the same mash. What differentiates them and the other brands in the portfolio is the three different cuts that Midleton uses to produce what it calls light, medium or heavy spirit. Multiply those three spirits by all the different types of barrels in its warehouse and you have an extensive palate to carve out unique flavor profiles for each brand. Redbreast is a combination of light and heavy barrels, which in the case of this release were aged in bourbon, sherry and port casks. Those casks were aged for at least 28 years and then married in a Sandeman port pipe. The result is a whisky that lives up to its dream billing. There’s custard and redcurrant on the nose. A sip immediately delivers an abundance of peaches and plums , followed by a lovely dose of oak spice that fades slowly through an extended finish. The stone fruit flavors are superb, similar to those I found in the similarly aged Teeling Revival series, suggesting this is a characteristic of well-aged Irish whiskey. It’s a very different dram to the core Rebreast range, which I find a tad simplistic despite their unquestionable tastiness. Of course, it’s a lot more expensive and harder to track down, but it’s well worth a try if you get the chance and I’ll be keeping an eye on future releases in this series.

Fantastic stuff where classic Irish tropical thunder takes on berries, citrus, coffee, raisins, figs, prunes, chocolate, and pot still spices. It’s like the 27 year on level 11. Nose: Raisins, Blackberries, Papayas, Guava, Figs, Toffee, Dark Chocolate, Mangoes, Pineapples, Green Apples, Passion Fruit, Raspberries, Honey, Bananas, Coconuts, Sunflowers, Mocha, Grapefruits Palate: Raisins, Dark Chocolate, Prunes, Dates, Morello Cherries, Raspberries, Espresso, Mocha, Hazlenuts, Walnuts, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Chili Peppers, Cloves, Licorice, Blood Oranges, Christmas Cakes Finish: Grapefruit, Raisins, Honey, Peaches, Piña Colada, Blood Oranges, Blackberries, Cherries, Toffee, Prunes, Figs, Dark Chocolate, Licorice, Espresso, Passion Fruit, Mangoes