Yellow Spot Single Pot Still Irish Whishey, 70 cl

Product Information

Green, Yellow, Red, Blue; you can be forgiven if you thought today was another edition of the Johnnie Walker colours. But today, I am looking at an Irish whiskey. Yellow Spot whiskey is the second addition to the ‘Spot’ range of Irish whiskies. The Blue Spot was reintroduced to the market in late 2020. Like the Red Spot, it was previously gone since the 1960s. What makes this unique is that it’s the only Spot that’s bottled at cask strength and has a single digit age statement. It’s aged in ex-Bourbon, ex-Sherry and ex- Madeira casks. The ABV varies by batch. So far, the lowest has been 56%-ish and the highest has been 58%-ish. Note that the Green Spot may be an NAS, but Irish Distillers say it’s a blend of at least seven to 10 year old whiskey. Like all the Spots, this one is also non-chill filtered. Could this be due to batch variation? The brand says the recipe is the same every time, but I think they make blending sound easy… which it really is not. Maybe my palate has changed? I’ve been eating food with more spices lately. Perhaps that’s a factor? In the mouth: Hot and fruity with a much rounder texture. I get medium and more lasting tastes of Madeira, toffee, raisins, caramel, New Orleans chicory coffee, Portuguese egg tarts, and nutmeg. The end is as peppery as the start. Conclusions: The "Spot" range of whiskeys are amongst a handful of single pot still whiskeys in existence today, with Green Spot being the only one to have remained in continuous production since the early 1900s ( Redbreast, the other long established Irish single pot still whiskey, briefly ceased production in the 1980s). Although once the most popular style of whiskey consumed in the world, pot still whiskey fell out of favor in the 20th century, due in part to the rise of cheaper, less intense blended whiskeys. [15] As a result of declining demand, most Irish whiskeys were either reformulated as blends or discontinued.

The Green Spot doesn’t seem as complex to me this time. I didn’t get as much variety of fruits this time, but I think that allowed the toffee and butterscotch to be more pronounced. It goes well with the rounded texture I get in a single pot still whiskey.

Blue Spot – Review

Nose: Complex, deep and layered. As well as the ever present barley and malted barley, baking spices are much more present. It is as if all of the fruit and berries from the other expressions have melded together to tell the complete story. The initial hit and the high alcohol is noted, but not unpleasant. Yellow Spot Irish whiskey was originally produced by the Mitchell family who commenced trading as whisky brokers in 1805 at 10 Grafton Street, Dublin. In 1887 the company moved to nearby Kildare Street and it is around this time that the Mitchells started bonding (maturing) whiskey. Irish whiskey producers generally use a mix of malted and unmalted barley for their mash bill – unlike the Scots, who use all malted barley – and these unmalted grains may enhance earthy, oily notes in the spirit. They generally dry the grains with ovens, instead of the Scots’ traditional peat fires, so with some exceptions Irish whiskeys don’t have the smoky aromas that characterize many scotch whiskies. Finally, Irish whiskeys are typically distilled three times, which is one more go-around than is usual for most scotch whiskies.

Yellow and Green Spot are two of the few surviving “bonded” Irish whiskeys – made by the ubiquitous Irish Distillers Limited (originally at the Jameson Bow Street Distillery, and now at the larger facility in Midleton, where all IDL whiskeys are made) – but sold by the wine merchants Mitchell & Son of Dublin, Ireland. Originating sometime after Mitchell & Son began selling whiskey in 1887, the ‘Spot’ refers to the family tradition of marking barrels of maturing whisky with a daub of paint to indicate their age – originally the shop sold Green, Yellow, Red, and Blue Spot whiskeys, most aged in the shop’s excess fortified wine barrels. Every aspect of this Yellow Spot whiskey is just yummy. It is not the most complex whiskey, but very drinkable and delicious. When I tasted it, the words that came to mind were “accessible and inviting”. Because Green Spot is produced in limited quantities (only 12,000 bottles per year) [5] and was historically mainly sold through Mitchell's & Son's Dublin shop, it was previously difficult to obtain outside of Ireland. However, in recent years, distribution of Green Spot has become more widespread. For instance, it was launched in the United States for the first time in 2014 [5] and is now available in retailers across France. [6]We may sell, license, transfer, assign or in any other way dispose of the Service (including Members) to any third party without any notification to you, e.g. (but without limitation) in connection with any reorganization, restructuring, merger or sale, or other transfer of assets.

Yellow Spot Irish Whiskey is a 12 year old version of the Green Spot which is mighty tasty on it’s own, but the extra age isn’t the only thing separating the Yellow from the Green. Like the Green Spot, Yellow Spot is aged in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. However, unlike the Green, Yellow Spot contains single pot still whiskey that was aged in Spanish Malaga wine casks.This doesn’t seem to be as expressive as the previous sample of Yellow Spot I tried. It’s like every flavor is shy and clumped up. I know it’s not about oxidation since I let the whiskey sit in the glass for close to 15 minutes. Nose: The Malaga wine cask effect is subtle but effective – soft fruits, mildly vinous, with a strong heart of butterscotch and buttery caramel. Like Green Spot, the cereal notes are in balance, and just this side of light. It bears little to no resemblance to Redbreast, despite the similar distillation. Deeper in the glass, there is an undercurrent of vanilla cake frosting.