Tuesday Tasting: Redbreast 12 Cask Strength

Tuesday Tasting is a regular feature of Lyke2Drink that explores some of the best beers, wines and spirits on the market. This week we sample a cask strength Irish whiskey.

Midleton Distillery in Cork is part of the Irish Distillers Group, which makes a number of famous Irish whiskeys, including Jameson, Powers and Midleton. They make Redbreast, a brand that was re-introduced in the 1990s.

The traditional Redbreast 12 is a single pot still whiskey that has racked up a truckload of awards in recent years, including the Whiskey Adovcate Award as Irish Whiskey of the Year in 2012 and the Malt Advocate Irish Whsikey of the Year title for 2011.

Redbreast 12 Year Old Cask Strength has more flavor and vibrancy than you will experience with most Irish whiskeys. It is a rich amber gold color and the nose is sweet, with hints of apple and figs. The flavor is full with spices, apple and tropical fruit, finished with nice amounts of oak. The 115.4 proof is present, but not overpowering. If you have found most Scotch to be too assertive and most Irish whiskey to be too light, Redbreast might just hit your sweet spot.

Redbreast 12 Year Old Cask Strength has a suggested retail price of $65 per 750 milliliter bottle.

Day 196 Drink: Knappogue Castle 12 Year Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey

Knappogue Castle is named for a 15th Century castle in western Ireland that Mark Edwin Andrews restored in the 1960s. Andrews acquired pot still whiskey made at the B. Daly Distillery and released it under the Knappogue Castle label. His son, Mark Andrews III has reestablished the brand and introduced six different vintage dated whiskeys in recent years.

Knappogue Castle 12 Year Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey is the first age designated release from the company in an updated package. The company plans to occasionally release vintage bottlings as they acquire rare stocks of whiskey.

Knappogue Castle 12 Year Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey is a bright straw color. The delicate nose has a sweet edge. The overall body of the whiskey is clean and straightforward. Hints of fruit are paid off with a long dry finish. As smooth a whiskey as you are going to find.

Jameson Sales Growth Fastest in a Decade

Irish whiskey brand Jameson sales are up 15 percent world wide during the last year, the fastest rate of growth for the brand in 10 years.

Jameson is distilled in Midleton, County Cork, by Irish Distillers, which is controlled by France's Pernod Ricard. The company sold 2.6 million cases of Jameson in the period ending June 30th.

In the United States sales of Jameson were up by 24 percent. Growth in Russia (36 percent) and eastern Europe (37 percent) was fueled by a major advertising campaign.

Bushmills Plans Special Whiskey to Mark 400 Years

They might not be Hannah Montana tickets, but you can expect the 10,000 bottles of a special blend of Bushmills Irish Whiskey made to mark the distillery's 400th anniversary to be snapped up very quickly.

Licensed in 1608 by King James I, Bushmills is recognized as the oldest licensed distillery in the world. The company produced 10,000 bottles of a blend of malt and grain whiskeys for the occasion. The plan is to distribute the bottles world wide ahead of the April 20th anniversary celebration.

Bushmills tested the waters for the anniversary blend in early December by placing 150 bottles for sale in the distillery visitor's center. It took just a few hours for the bottles to sell out.

Bushmills distillery is located in Country Antrim, north of Belfast, where spirits have been made since the late Thirteenth Century.