Connemara 12-Year
40% ABV - Ireland
Nose: Sweet and dense smoke, with light fruits coming through. Matchstick, light wood, and ashy. Nicely peated, offering a contrast in flavour to Islay.
Taste: Before the smoke envelops your tongue, it goes in a different direction and delivers orchard fruits and apples, with fruit syrup, spices, and a slight salinity.
Finish: Fading smoke and fruits… candied sweetness, and spices.
All right, we are dealing with an Irish whiskey whiskey whiskey – yes, just some extra practice typing in that ‘e’! Uncommon for most Irish whiskies, this is a peated single malt and not triple distilled. As described by Ralfy, it is "intensely delicate". And I find it quite complementary to the Islay whiskies that dominate my collection.
I first tasted Connemara 12-Year on a snowy evening at an Irish pub in Minneapolis, Minnesota… I was in the city for less than 24 hours on a whirlwind work trip, and was more than pleased to order a flight that included this. Instantly, this was a bottle that I knew I would try and hunt down. I had it side-by-side Connemara Original and easily preferred this one! It took me quite a while to find it as it is not regularly available in my area. I ended up finding a dusty wooden tube of it though! Purchased last year, in 2019, this bottle would have actually been released circa 2014. Happy to have given this lonely one a home.
This is a generally light, dry, salty, ash-filled single malt. The fruits are there, but they fade to secondary quite quickly. Though don’t interpret that as any negative; I think this whiskey is a very unique and a delicious offering. Time in the glass is its friend.
Tasting Notes (Official): Vibrant aromas of creme brulee, singed flowers, dense spices, and Provence herb soap follow through on a round, supple entry to dryish medium-full body with layers of praline, vanilla bean, and exotic peppercorns. Finishes with very long, evolving honeyed cereal and grassy.
Tasted 17, 26 March & 17 April 2020. (Posted 17 April 2020.)
