Writers Tears Pot Still Blend

This is a blend of malt and pot still whiskies, both distilled at Midleton and bottled by Walsh Whiskey (run by Bernard Walsh), makers of The Irishman. It has no grain whiskey in it. I decanted this bottle on Dec 19 2015.

The colour is a rich gold. On the nose we have green apple skins, linseed oil, kumquats and malt. Dark honey. Jasmine. Fresh-cut pine. Oily, fruity, floral and herbaceous. Becomes lighter and more floral with water. There is something I can't quite place muddying up the background but otherwise this is very nice.

On the palate, oilier still; lemon, apricot, white pepper and sage. Very fruity with a nice citrus zing. Light-bodied and crisp, like a sauvignon blanc. Water adds more fruitiness (peaches, nectarines) but drowns those light, crispy notes. The pot-still character really comes through.

The finish is a little rough with more oils, herbs and warming spices. I remember having a bottle a few years ago and being completely blown away by it. This one seems to be from another batch, and isn't quite at the level of that older bottling (which Jim Murray scored a 93). Still - this is very good stuff, easy to drink and better than most Irish whiskies in its price range.

The beer shop that I manage now sells whisky, in no smart part thanks to me. Originally the owners had no interest in selling whisky, didn't think it'd do well enough, etc.

However thanks to my blog, the fact that I'm friends with most of the whisky guys in Australia and quite a few around the world, they decided that we should sell whisky.

Whatever whiskies I thought were good, we'd carry.

And it's completely taking off, at times accounting for a large percentage of our sells. And that means these days I have whisky reps in and out of the shop left, right and center.

A couple of weeks ago I had a whisky rep in the store and we'd got to chatting. The thing is I refuse to carry anything that the major chain stores sell just because I can't be competitive enough to justify it.

And so this whisky rep is in and we're chatting about that and he mentions an Irish whiskey that the major stores aren't carrying.

At this point I look a wee bit sheepish and comment that to be honest I'd yet to be suitably impressed by any of the Irish whiskies. They haven't been bad, but just haven't done it for me.

He looks at me in horror and states that he'll bring me a bottle in a couple of days time that he hopes will change that opinion. Fair enough, I'll bring the Kavalans I was telling him about as he can't believe that there are these legendary Taiwanese whiskies out there making waves.

It'll be a whisky trade!

On Friday he comes in, I've brought in the Kavalans and some glencairns and he brings me in a bottle of Writer's Tears Pot Still Whiskey.

He tries the Kavalans and is suitably impressed, commenting on how awesome they are. He then gives me the bottle of Writer's Tears to take home and play with.

Whoa!

So last night I crack open this bad boy while watching Castle with my wife and pour a nip into a glencairn.

The nose is very light and fruity with vanilla, lychee, apples, citrus, orange zest, cinnamon, slightly floral, lily's and lilacs.

It's a nice little aperitif type nose, reminding me at times of Auchentoshan and Glenmorangie, being a very light easy drinking whiskey (well at least the nose leads you to that thought!)

Time to taste though and see if I'm seduced into loving Irish whiskies!

Sweet, again very much an aperitif, light and sweet with heaps of vanilla, lots of citrus, orange peel, some oak, little grassy, honey, possibly just the slightest hint of cinnamon.

Very nice and easy going! I'm impressed. It's not a whiskey that I would normally go for as I generally enjoy the bigger casks strengths then the 40% abvs.

A very short finish with heaps of orange zest ends this whiskey.

Definitely a great whiskey to start the night on or finish a meal on. Am I sold on the Irish whiskies?

Nah, but that's more due to me preferring monsters like the Stag, Handy, Octomore, etc.

Am I sold on this being a good little whiskey?

Definitely!

You can pick it up at some of your higher end bottle shops here in Perth, not Dan Murphy's, for around $65 to $70 a bottle.

If you see it in a bar and would like to try an Irish whiskey that's better then Jameson then look no further!

Writers Tears Pot Still Irish Whiskey is an oddity. It’s a pure—excuse me, single—pot still—ahem, apologies—whiskey that’s been blended with malt whiskey, all produced at—where else?—Midleton Distillery in Cork. That’s right: it’s a single pot still blend. It claims to be “a style of whiskey that was popular in [James] Joyce’s Dublin” and, further, that it is “the original pot still”, but how they have come to know this is a mystery. I call PR bunkum, but—bunkum or no bunkum—what matters is what’s currently in my copita. And it is lovely stuff.

The nose strikes first with pencil shavings. I’ve come across it in other whiskies many times before, but never has it been so insistent. Yet, here it is: pencil shavings. With time, however, it opens up spectacularly to apples and crème caramel, with subtler hints of salt, maple syrup, and banana. Occasionally, notes of pineapple, lime, cinnamon, and menthol appear.

The palate is brilliantly tropical—with pineapple, especially—and, once again, pencil shavings and salt. There follows notes of raisins and milk chocolate on the finish. There is a truly fantastic balance between the sweet and dry elements of this whiskey, especially as the bottle evolves over time.

Here is a relatively new style of whisky, dubbed "pot still blend." Unlike your typical blend it is not just a mix of grain and malt whisky. Rather, it is a blend of Pure Pot Still and single malt whisky. The difference might be confusing to some but let's just say that PPS whiskey is unique to Ireland, and so a pot still blend is also unique to Ireland.

Nose: directly from the bottle you get sawdust and raisins. In the glass it is soft yet also a bit prickly. There is a metallic tang, followed by hints of wood and suggestions of apple and grape. After a while, more sawdust, a bit of woodsmoke. Pleasant but understated; you need to get your nose in deep to tease out the creaminess of the malt.

Taste: sweet with a hard, crisp attack. Peach/apricot flavour at first, reminiscent of Jameson, but with more guts. No mistaking that this is Irish. Slight oaky bitterness as it develops. Not the most rounded delivery ever but certainly has its charms.

Finish: decent length, slightly bitter. Fruity overtones.

Balance: a good example of pure Irish whiskey. A bit rough around the edges but overall quite satisfying.