The Dead Rabbit Irish Whiskey

This is a 5-year old sourced Irish whiskey, sourced for use at a NYC whiskey bar named The Dead Rabbit. Fortunately, this was not kept exclusive to the bar, and it is fairly well distributed. When it was recommended to me, I had never heard of the bar, so this will be my first impression. Nose: Vanilla, sugar cookie, and toffee. Apple, pear, and white grape, and apricot. Custard and vanilla frosting sweetness. Some roasted nut (walnut, cashew) and toasted oak. It's light but pleasant. Palate: Caramel, vanilla, toffee, malt, and sugar cookie. Floral notes along with more of the apple (Granny Smith), pear, apricot, and white grape. Heavy brown sugar. Roasted cashew and oak. Finish: Caramel and brown sugar. Apple and pear. Vanilla and toffee. Roasted cashew and oak with some cinnamon, clove and nutmeg carrying this to a medium length finish. This is an interesting whiskey. It's young; that much is evident. But it also has a lot to offer. This made me think of Jameson Gold, which is fitting because I believe it is the only other Irish whiskey I've had that has been aged in virgin oak. Solid concept, great value. Would be willing to spend more money to see this formula applied to a whiskey aged for double or triple the time. As for this, good stuff, 3.5/5.

Never heard of The Dead Rabbit Irish whiskey but I was intrigued and decided to dive in. I must say that the flavours aren’t what I was expecting. At first sip, I noticed it was sweet at spicy, blended very well and it was clear that those flavours were coming from the whiskey being aged for 5 years in bourbon barrels. I definitely get the oak wood finish, that coming from the Virgin American Oak that it was finished in, those wood flavours are really pronounced and come through quite nicely. It has a bit of a bite to the finish although it’s a bit dry, which I was never really a fan of but I’ve gotten used to it and it gives a different aftertaste that I’m starting to enjoy more and more.

Wow! Got that classic Irish fruity note, but what I didn’t expect was that dark, rich sweetness. There’s almost a toasted marshmallow note that coats the palate suuuuper gently, and it’s complimented by that strong barrel spice on the back end. The more you drink it, the more that spice comes forward, until it eventually dominates, but that buttery sweetness never fully goes away. Incredibly smooth finish, goes down almost like water. As far as Irish blends go, this is pretty hard to beat, especially for a daily go-to. Side-note: Definitely add a couple drops of water. Opens those fruity notes right up and rounds out the spice just a bit. Much better in my opinion.

N: honey, light buttery malt (just a touch), nutty cereal notes, some fruitiness, a lot of oak barrel going on here, a touch of that bourbon effect via the aging in those barrels, vanilla and cherry that you would get from bourbon. T: honey, light fruit, tons of oak, plenty of barrel spices, a little herbal note with a peppery finish. Definitely a different take on an Irish whisky. Not bad, but not exactly what I was expecting either. For those that like bourbon but are trying to expand their whiskey prowess, this is a good segue into something different.

A surprising Irish indeed. On the nose it it has all of the classic smells of honey and sugar cookie with the added vanilla of a bourbon. Upon tasting the punch of charred oak hits right away and lingers throughout though sweetness starts to come through at the end with vanilla and a little caramel. Unique for sure but sadly not Irish enough for when I'm wanting one and, of course, not anywhere near a good bourbon. Not sure how often I would be in the mood for something that kind of floats between the two.

Tasted neat. This whiskey is one of the better Irish whiskeys. A medium caramel colour on the pour with a sweet, woody note on the nose with hints of vanilla. The taste is also woody with caramel and a slight orange taste. The wood taste lingers longer than the sweet citrus but the alcohol bite is there and gone fairly quickly. A very light whiskey and easy to drink.