Connemara Original

While it's a little late for St. Patrick's Day, it's still worth taking a look at another Irish whiskey. It's a segment of the industry I'm liking a lot less these days, at least compared to others, but I do want to point out there's more variety than you might think.

When it comes to Irish whiskey you probably first think of blends, like Jameson. This stuff is cheap, palatable and super easy to drink due to its triple distillation. Other familiar names are Bushmills and Tullamore D.E.W. The actually distinct Irish style is called 'single pot still,' using both malted and unmalted barley in the mash, with the unmalted barley the key difference (see Redbreast CS). Unpeated single malts are also fairly common. Then there are some oddballs, like Irish ryes (see Kilbeggan Small Batch Rye) or peated Irish single malts, though there's more of these now than ever before. I want to take a closer look at a one of the peated whiskeys, called Connemara.

Connemara Peated Single Malt Irish Whiskey is made by Kilbeggan Distilling Co, at the Cooley distillery north of Dublin. Click the Kilbeggan link above to learn more about this distillery and why it was a big deal when it opened in 1987. Currently it's owned by Suntory Global Spirits, a huge Japanese company that also owns Jim Beam, and produces several Irish whiskey brands.

When Connemara was first released, back in the late 90's (some websites say '96 and others '99, so I'm unsure), it was the first peated Irish whiskey in a long time. Historically a lot of Irish whiskey, especially the illicitly produced kind, used peat fires in drying barley. But the prevalence of this faded through the 19th century and was gone in the early 20th. By then goal was drinkability and a purge of potentially offensive flavors. I enjoyed reading (in this Master of Malt article) that in the 1970s Jameson proudly contrasted itself against its Gaelic neighbors by advertising themselves as 'Scotch without the smoke.' So when Connemara appeared it was truly unique, i.e. it was the only peaty Irish whiskey, and remained that way til only a few years ago.

The name comes from a region of Ireland, west of Galway on the Atlantic coast. It's rural and strongly traditionally Irish, one of the few places where Irish Gaelic is still commonly spoken. It's also gorgeous and contains Connemara National Park, which looks amazing. Altogether 'Connemara' harks to the Ireland of old, the language, the natural beauty and the whiskey-making methods.

One place we wish we'd seen in 2015

As for the whiskey brand, it appears there's the Original, what I have, as well as a 12 year version and a cask strength version. I'm not sure I've ever seen these other two, however. Unlike most Irish whiskies this is only distilled twice through copper pot stills, like Scotch. The peat is light, only 13-15 ppm or so, as compared to 40-50 ppm for the most commonly known peated Scotches.

Stats:

ABV - 40% (80 proof)

Mash - 100% malted barley

Maturation - American oak barrels (presumably ex-Bourbon)

Age - NAS (at least three years, required for all Irish whiskey)

Location - Cooley distillery, County Louth, Ireland

Price - ~$50

Tasting Notes:

Nose - Peat embers, fruit (apples?)

Color - Looks light, yellow-ish or almost orange-ish

Taste - Honey, apple, little spice, little oak

Finish - Disappears quickly, hints of peat stick more in your nose than your mouth

Final Thoughts:

Overall it's fine. But I don't think I'm the target audience here, nor either is my wife who loves a peated Scotch.

The pros: It's nicely delicate, it is Irish after all. It's really easy to drink and does sport at least some peat, to us a good thing.

The cons: It's too delicate, and thin at 40% ABV. I want a little burn in my throat. My wife wants that peat fire roaring, not on the verge of going out.

It would be a good way to introduce the idea of peat to someone, especially if they really favor smoothness in a whiskey. We're just not seeking what Irish whiskey is selling.