The Whistler Double Oaked

Nose: Mild grassy, cereal aromas for the most part. A little vanilla and some floral/fruity orchard notes but it’s a bit too laid-back for its own good and you can easily smell the grain whiskey component (especially on the dry glass). Given time in the glass it expands, but not a great deal, and a drop of water helps as well. Palate: Sweet, cereal, malty arrival that is pleasant but one-dimensional. Butterscotch and barley sugar show up in the development but overall the palate is lacklustre and a bit thin. The texture is silky but watery. Finish: Short, fast. The palate quickly dies out into a simple ethanol aftertaste. A generic lower-mid shelf Irish blend that displays all the better profile characteristics of its class and mercifully none of the faults. Boann distillery only ran their first spirit in 2019 so this is a sourced product. They are coy about this aspect of their operations and don’t divulge their sources, but it seems to me very much like a blend of Bushmills malt with grain whiskey (which could have come come from almost anywhere). Although pot-still whiskey is not listed as a component on the label I did get a characteristic aroma of unmalted barley on the nose, but maybe this is coming from the grain whisky. Anyway, this is average and underachieving stuff, but it is admittedly very easy to drink. Adding water makes it even more accessible and also amplifies the sweet notes throughout, bringing out a caramel fudge flavour. This is a perfectly acceptable session whiskey but at the price it is directly competing with Bushmills Black Bush which is a better whiskey in every respect. While I was tasting this I kept thinking how much better it might have been if the malt content had been 35% instead of only 20%. With a bit more presence it would score a whole point higher. “Adequate” : 74/100 (2.25 stars)

The Whistler Double Oaked is the second of for whiskies I’ve tasted from the Boann Distillery. Overall, it was very fruity and light but lacked depth and complexity. The Double Oaked expression is a blend of 80% grain (corn) whiskey and 20% single malt (barley). It is then matured in matured in ex-bourbon barrels married with ex-sherry barrels The Double Oaked is bottled at 40% ABV. Color: Burnt Gold The nose was full of intense grassy aromas with floral sweetness aside notes of vanilla, honeysuckle, green apple, pineapple, banana, and melon. The palate was fruiting and nutty with notes of honey, cereal, banana, citrus fruits, and spice on the front but fades after a few seconds. The finish is rather short and light with lingering notes of oak, citrus fruits, and oats.

The Whistler Double Oak is part of the core range from this new irish distillery. It is actually the most entry level of all of their expressions. On the nose, coffee with marshmallows, capuccino, milk & coffee; creamy and thick on the nose. Its like melted white chocolate. You can feel the grain whisky here. Honey & white chocolate. On the palate, it is a liquid mixture of coffee and chocolate. Marshmallows, intense red apples. Aftertaste wasn't too good, a little rough and grainy, with a nice peppery spice. Overall my score for the first expression you should try from The Whistler is a solid 85 over 100, which is an interesting score for a core range expression.

50ml mini bottle ($2.95) tasting series. Tasted neat. Pale yellow and full coating legs in the glass. Nose is floral grain, sweet, stone fruit, and just a whiff of spice at the end. Light brown sugar cereal and vanilla in the mouth. Sweet and thin mouthfeel, with some ethanol bite. Finish is sweet and citrus, then dry grass, mineral, baking spice, and vanilla oak shows up. Finish is above average length, dry, tingling, and then a lingering saline astringent sour. Not a bad blended Irish--may be better with an ice cube to tamp down the sweet.

Aged in ex bourbon and sherry barrels. Nice full flavor, wonderful oily viscosity with long legs, honeylike taste is dominate. Excellent with a cigar, I really enjoyed this one neat. Price is very reasonable for this quality whiskey. I would repurchase.

It's a blend that is very thin with little character. Definitely not as good as their 5,7,or 10 year old single malts. I 'm sure it would be great if you were making mixed drinks. But I drink whiskey neat. I would rather have their aged single malts.