Welcome to
Whisk(e)y Reviews
April 2021
with
Blue Spot Irish Whiskey
If you follow the reviews here, you will have noticed a love of Scotch and Bourbon. I like to say that I like all things whiskey, but Irish Whiskey is not something I have tried a lot of. Yes, I've had Jameson and like its buttery simplicity. Teeling Small Batch and Redbreast 12 are my "go to" Irish whiskeys when I have the desire. Outside of a rare bottle, I haven't had much else. The Spot whiskeys are a glaring omission in my Irish exploration, and I hope to rectify this quickly. Granted, my lack of Irish whiskey experience is something I need to change, so you may see more of this soon.
The Spot whiskeys, a Mitchell & Son brand, have a unique naming system based on how the Mitchells used to mark a cask based on the age of the whiskey. Blue Spot was a 7 year old, Green Spot a 10 year old, Yellow Spot a 12 year old, and Red Spot a 15 year old. Some of this is changing as Green Spot has transitioned to a "No Age Statement" whiskey (but still planned as 7 - 10 years old) with a separate offering of a French oak wine cask finish.
Getting back to our topic, Blue Spot has not been available for decades and was just reintroduced in 2020. This is a younger whiskey, but it is also a cask strength offering, unlike its siblings. Yes, I really should have started with the more basic Spot offerings, but I happened to get a sample from a friend of the Blue Spot, so we get a review.
Notes:
-
7 years old
-
Matured in Bourbon casks, Sherry butts and Portuguese Madeira casks
-
Distilled, Aged, and Bottled by Midleton Distillery, County Cork, Ireland for Mitchell & Son.
-
100% malted and unmalted barley
-
Non-chill filtered
-
Bottled at 58.7% ABV (117.4 proof)
Nose: 84/100
It starts with a lot of copper with a bit of milk chocolate. Some malt follows fairly quickly. Sweet citrus, like candied lemons, sits at the edges. After some time in the glass, cinnamon and nutmeg make an appearance.
Palate: 88/100
Oily and rich, this just bursts with flavor. Milk chocolate covers the tongue quickly. Candied oranges quickly follow. Cinnamon and hazelnuts sit in the background. It does get a bit warm after a while.
Finish: 86/100
Medium length finish with a touch of copper underneath everything. Milk chocolate and sweet citrus dominate again. Cinnamon appears, but only fleetingly. Again, this gets a touch warm.
Overall: 86/100
Recommendation: Buy it now!
Blue Spot is a very good whiskey which is really only hampered by the first impression you get when nosing the whiskey. Obviously, you probably want to start with the more traditional offerings instead of the cask strength, but if you are comfortable with a higher proof you can just dive into the deep end. This is a complex and flavorful dram, and that is expected with most high proof whiskeys. It is not a cheap pour, and you get what you pay for. Blue Spot is not readily available but distribution has been widespread, so you may just have to look a little harder for it.