The Irishman 70 review

The Irishman brand is fairly new, established in 1999. It started out as a company, which was blending and bottling Irish Coffee. In 2007 they started to bottle Irish whiskey.

This Irishman 70, the Founder’s Reserve is made out of 70% single malt and 30% single pot still, created by founder Bernard Walsh. The blend is unusual because it’s the only Irish blended whiskey to contain 100% whiskey distillates from the copper pot still and 0% grain or column still whiskey.

The Founder’s Reserve is triple distilled and matured in bourbon casks. It has won a Gold Medal at The International Spirits Challenge in London and in The International Spirits Competition in San Francisco. Jim Murray gave it a score of 93 points in his Whisky Bible.

The Irishman is sold in 0,5 litre plastic bottles in Finland.

I’d have to be WAKING NED DEVINE for this whisky

This dram truly was a big positive surprise for me. It’s easy to reference this whiskey with the movie Waking Ned Devine, because it almost felt like a lottery win. Definitely a “bang for the buck dram” – not complex but good for the price you’re getting it.

Fortunately I didn’t die like Ned Devine in the movie but I almost went to heaven while tasting The Irishman 70. It’s moments like these that make my day the most when tasting whisky. When you discover a great bargain. So that’s why the big hype compared to a fair score, The Irishman was just so nice compared to my expectations.

Nose: Cinnamon with fruity notes and touch of vanilla.

Taste: Bit spicy with a bourbon feel. Vanilla dominates greatly with hints of oak.

Finish: Toffee and oak hit briefly. Unfortunately the finish is a bit too short.

Balance: Good nose and the whiskey is fairly in balance, Nice dram for the price! Reminded me a bit of Buffalo Trace bourbon.

Colour: Full gold
Nose: 22  |  Taste: 20  |  Finish: 19  |  Balance: 20
Overall score: 81

Brand: The Irishman
Owner: The Irishman Whiskey, Dublin, Ireland
ABV: 40%