Distiller: Tullamore Dew
Age: 12 Years Old
Location: Ireland
Alcohol: 40%
Tasting: Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Now what would St. Patrick’s Day be without a little Irish Whiskey! Irish Whiskey dates back to the 6th century. If you are doing your math right now, you would be correct in realizing that Irish Whiskey was being made before Scotch Whisky, “hence the broad similarities between the two nations’ products.” “The monks, who were the healers of their day, used spirit as a base for medicines, rubs and liniments. Why wouldn’t they? Here was a substance as clear as water; that burned like fire and literally preserved flesh. It was nothing less than the legendary ‘Uisce Beatha’ or Water of Life in English, eventually anglicized to give us Whiskey.” *
Now as you are reading this, you are probably wondering what the heck is wrong with me and my spelling ability. I write ‘Irish Whiskey’ and then ‘Scotch Whisky’. Actually, they are both correct. The Irish and Americans spell theirs with an ‘e’ and the Canadians and the Scots spell theirs without. It is enough to make a spell checker go mad!!! That isn’t the only place where these two wonderful drops of pleasure differ.
The Production Process: In Ireland the malted barley is dried in enclosed kilns. With Scotch Whiskey the malted barley is dried over peat fires. The Irish use both malted and unmalted barley in the pot still and the Scots use only malted barley. The Irish distill 3 times and the Scots distill 2 times. The result is totally different. I will explain it the way a gentleman said it to me the other day. ‘Irish Whiskey is gentle, soft and round. Scotch Whisky is still a clean good tasting whisky, but it can be smoky, or peaty and even a little bold too. What you want to sip on depends on how your liver feels on that particular day.’ That kind of says it all.
Now this is only a short blog, so there isn’t a lot of time to go much further into this spirit. Whiskey (or whisky) is a great sip to enjoy whether it is Irish, Scottish, Canadian or American.
Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey dates back to 1829 when the distillery was founded in Tullamore, County Offaly by Mr. Michael Molloy. Daniel E. Williams, was “the major influence on the development of the distillery.” “His initials, D-E-W, inspired the whiskey to be named ‘Tullamore Dew’ with the original slogan “Give every man his Dew” still in use today.” The Williams family later became shareholders in the distillery.
The trade war with England (1930’s) and The American Prohibition (1919 - 1933) dried up Irish Whiskey sales not only in the United States, but throughout the British Empire. The 1950’s and 1960’s saw major changes. The Tullamore Distillery closed and was bought by Power’s about 6 years later. “Between 1966 and 1972, all the remaining Irish distilleries came together to regenerate the industry - ultimately under the name of The Irish Distillers Group. Production was also consolidated into two distilleries in County Cork (where Tullamore Dew is distilled today) and County Antrim.”
As of 2009, Tullamore Dew is the No.2 Irish whiskey brand in the world”. ”It is currently the fastest growing Irish whiskey brand globally in the fastest growing spirits category.”
Just a little note on the logo for Tullamore Dew: You will notice two dogs on their trademark logo. One is lying down and the other is standing. The breed of dog is the Irish Wolfhound. I have been owned by Irish Wolfhounds for 27 years. (yes I meant ‘owned by’ because they truly get into your heart) Why would an Irish Whiskey company put dogs on their logo?
Well, originally there was a red jug, which was related to Red Cup Tea. Daniel E. Williams was the head of the Red Cup Tea commercial venture. However, when Desmond (Daniel’s grandson) came into the picture, he decided on a change. Desmond bred Irish Wolfhounds and he felt that the wolfhound’s loyalty and courage (I can confirm those traits from my personal experience) would make a good symbol for his Irish Whiskey. The Irish Wolfhounds remain as a symbol on the bottles even today. The connection between the Irish Wolfhound and Tullamore Dew is still very strong. They still sponsor the Irish Wolfhound Club of Ireland.
The Tullamore Dew 12 Year Old Special Reserve is our drop of choice for our tasting. This particular one has won so many awards including Gold medals at the World Spirits Competition and International Spirits Challenge plus Double Gold at the World Spirits Competition.
There is a lot of flavour in this whiskey. Nuts, vanilla, spice and even “faint notes of Christmas cake”. Now for those of you who are not big fruit cake fans (I am a fruit cake addict, by the way), notice the word “faint”. When you smell this whiskey, you will fall in love long before it even touches your lips. The whiskey is aged in Bourbon and Oloroso Sherry casks. This will bring out some of those great aromas and flavours. The taste will have just a wee touch of sweetness. Now I don’t mean sugary sweet, it is just a hint sweet flavour from the fabulous Sherry casks that they use. It will almost be mellow.
Wait till you get a taste of this heaven. Yum. Now if you are so inclined to have a little Irish Coffee on St. Patrick’s Day, or if you have never tried one before, we will also be serving a little bit of that, as well. By the way… the cream is totally non-fattening (in my dreams only).
Come by on Wednesday from 4:00 until 7:00 to try this wonderful Irish treat.
CSPC: 719398
Price:
$41.99 (minus the 10% Winesday Discount)
*Price correct at time of printing. Price subject to change without notice.
SHERBROOKE SHAMROCK
Style: All-Malt Lager (Bavarian style lager)
ABV: 5%
Presentation: 6 Packs - 341Ml bottles
Brewery: Alley Kat Brewing Company
Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
St. Patrick’s Day, being the special day that it is… well, we have two products to try. The second one is the perennial favourite Sherbrooke Shamrock. A few years ago Jim from Sherbrooke approached Neil Herbst, founder of Alley Kat Brewing Company and asked if they could come up with a special St. Patrick’s Day themed beer specifically for Sherbrooke. Sherbrooke Shamrock came to life.
Now Sherbrooke Shamrock is not the only beer that Alley Kat has brewed for Sherbrooke Liquor. They have also made: Big Al’s Red Kiss, Bad Hare Day, Chocolate Osterious, and the famous Pumpkin Pi to name just a few.
Neil from Alley Kat told me that “up until this year, Sherbrooke Shamrock was brewed in the style of a Belgian lager.” Sherbrooke decided this year to shake things up a little and do a Bavarian style lager. It is still brewed by Alley Kat, in fact “it is Alley Kat’s Charlie Flint lager”, with a smidgeon of green to add to the festivities. After all, what would St. Patrick’s Day be without a little green? So if you think you have tried Sherbrooke Shamrock before, you have to come back again to try the new one.
Jeff Werstiuk of Sherbrooke Liquor gave me some insight into who Charlie Flint was. Charlie was ‘the first successful small craft brewer in our province, which was actually part of the Northwest Territories’ back in his day. You should read Jeff’s blog on the history of this great guy and the great beer that Alley Kat has brewed in his honour.
In a few words, Jeff described the style of beer this year. He said that the Bavarian style lager “is more malty” and has “like a bread and butter sweetness”.
The beer is still available in 6-packs this year and there will be lots in the cooler for you. However, as always, Sherbrooke Shamrock is in limited quantity.
CSPC: 726080
Price:
$14.99 (minus the 10% Winesday Discount)
*Price correct at time of printing. Price subject to change without notice.
Come by on Wednesday and try this ‘new’ Sherbrooke Shamrock.
We will be there from 4:00 - 7:00 pm. See you then.
Sláinte (to your health).
Next week we are leaving the greens of Ireland and heading off to Germany. Spreken ze Deutsch?
Kilbeggan Distillery opened back in 1757, just a few short years ago. It is said to be the oldest distillery in the world and it has the oldes pot still in the world. Now while it is true that Kilbeggan Irish Whiskey has been around for many a year, the parent company, Cooley Distillery is a mere babes in the woods. It was founded in 1987. Cooley Distillery is the only independantly owned distillery in Ireland.
This company makes not only the Kilbeggan but also the Greenore that we will be having a wee bit of the tibbler’s way with for St. Paddy’s Day. Greenore is called a single grain Whiskey, as opposed to the blended Kilbeggan.