Tasting four Jameson expressions on St. Patrick’s Day : #JamesonWhiskey

St. Patrick’s day, what else can you do? Wear green? and drink Irish whiskey, right? what better than drink some whisky with whiskey/whisky mates from all over the world? well, nothing. I was extremely happy to be invited to this twitter tasting of four Jameson expressions by Steve Rush of the whisky wire, and get to taste maybe one of the best known whiskey originating from Ireland (at least in Israel). I know when whisky snobs (me included) hear the name Jameson we’re not really exciting, as the “regular” Jameson is a mass produced blended whisky, very popular but not very exciting, it’s not a single cask, form an obscure distillery, or anything like what we usually like to try and blog about, but as you’re about to see, Jameson does make some brilliant whiskies apart from the Original Jameson you’ve probably had quite a few time in the past. The day of the tasting, I learned that our host Steve was admitted to the hospital (Meningitis) and was not able to host the event, but not to worry, Alwynne (better known as the Miss Whisky) took over, and was hosting the event. Let’s get on with my dramming notes:

Jameson Classic,40% abv, £20

Nose: Quite light with citrus, cereals some flowery notes, and vanilla. It’s evidently quite young, and a bit new make-ish on the nose, light and sweet.

Palate: pepper, feels a bit young this one, caramel, toasted wood, sugars and spice, it has got a it of everything, but does not leave a big mark.

Finish: Cocoa powder, vanilla, pepper and spice.

My two cents:

It’s a nice sipping whisky, with a bit of ice it could do the job, or as base for mixing some nice cocktails. I’ve had it a lot of times before, fairly priced, but nothing too fancy to write home about. Can’t go wrong with it though.Classic blended young whisky. Not sure What Mr Murray was on when scoring it over 90, but again, I can’t really get many of his scores. oh well. (rant).

Score: 82/100

Jameson Gold Reserve, 40% abv, £54.40

I’ve had this one a few years ago and I remember I really liked it, It will be very interesting to see how my palate has changed with time (I know it had).

Nose:  So much better than the classic IMHO. This is a nicer one on the nose for sure, interesting with some tropical fruit , maybe a hint of banana, cereal and spice.

Palate: Very nice notes of vanilla, cereal, wood, a bit of citrus, quite buttery and smooth with some lovely oak notes too.

Finish: Vanilla, grass and sweet oak.

My two cents:

Easy drinking, very good on the nose and palate, a big improvement, and a solid dram.

Score: 87/100

Jameson Select Reserve , 40% abv , £35

This is supposed to be a richer verison of the classic with more single pot still, and some small batch grain whiskey, a higher proportion of first fill sherry and bourbon casks.

Nose: I like the nose on this one very much . Exotic and fruity  lots of pineapple, mango, vanilla, honey, while still feeling quite creamy too. very nice stuff.  You can sum it all up by : vanilla ice cream topped with exotic fruit. Bingo!

Palate: Sweet nectar, fruity, creamy, lots of vanilla, fruit salad sort of qualities to it, with a peppery tang and spices.

Finish: fruit, spice and vanilla.

My two  cents:

Not sure if I like this one better than the gold, or vise versa. Both are lovely drams.

Score: 87/100

Jameson Rarest vintage Reserve , 46%

This is the holy grail when it comes to Jameson whiskies. A very limited, 2007 vintage, NCF, including some very old casks (over 20 yo), and some ex-port casks that add deep sweet tones. Let’s dram! I’ve never had this one before, and was very excited!

Nose:  Oh yes. lovely wood influence here, with deep oak notes, as well as sweet hedonistic sugar, toffee treacle ,  dried fruit as in plum, date and cinnamon. Yes, those port casks did the magic!

Palate: Chilly.Quite wine-y with a lot of red fruit notes, grapes, cinnamon galore, vanilla and wood, big port effect here methinks, making it very very sweet, almost jam like but in a good way. This is a massive palate , Is this a Jameson? Yes. it is.

Finish : Chocolate, cinnamon and red fruit (cherries).

My two cents:

This is a HUGE dram. clearly the winner of the night. It’s superb. Beautiful port pipe influence, being sweet, spicy, and sweet with the chocolate finish. It blew my mind.

Score: 92/100

What an experience, far beyond what I had expected. Jameson really rocked this evening, and Irish can be that good! I knew it, but that was a very nice reminder. Good stuff.

I’d like to thank Steve for organizing this evening, and wish him speedy recovery, and to be in full dramming form in no time. any thanks to Alwynne who stepped in for him and was a great hose for this event.