Redbreast 10
Redbreast 10 was released to celebrate the thirty years since the revival of the Redbreast brand, Irish Distillers released this limited edition 10 year old single pot still. Bottled at cask strength of 59.1% ABV and retailing at €100, Redbreast 10 was available exclusively via The Birdhouse club. All 7,000 bottles sold out in a number of hours.
Omar Fitzell Notes
Clean, pronounced flavours jump from the glass. The 59.1% ABV is apparent but not overpowering. Leather with a wisp of cigar tobacco and a touch of freshly ground coffee. Sherry nuttiness shines through with some stone and tropical fruits.
Palate
Hello trad pot! That heavy distillate creates a wonderful mouth-filling texture. Intermediate wood spice in the form of cracked black pepper is slowly stripped back by a slight grapefruit bitterness that then reveals a raisin and date sweetness. I get a faint blueberry note that I just cannot put my finger on also. Weird eh.
Finish
A caramel sweetness signals the beginning of a medium to long finish that lingers nicely as all those wood spices disappear.
Overall
I am a sucker for trad pot. For instance, the trad pot component for Redbreast 21 is something I dream of bottling (it is 32 odd years old though!). So, my palate really takes to it and while I know that it, combined with a younger aged spirit, might not be to everyone’s taste buds, you’ll be struggling not to like it. I kind of expected some more pronounced dark berry notes which would have been the icing on the cake for me, but you know what, for this price and this ABV, I am a very happy boy.
Al Higgins notes
Nose
A great start to this one! Prickly and oily pot still notes. A nice mix of raisins, stem ginger, orange peel, cherry cake, bakewell tarts, almonds, plums and peach stones.
Palate
Superb mouth-feel. Oily and rich with some firm oak tannins giving this some really nice structure. Lots of confectionary notes: marshmallow, boiled sweets, orange drops and tropical fruits. Some bonus flavours of baked goods, fruit cake, black pepper and spice.
Finish
Rich, spicy and long. A little bit of alcohol heat but it just adds to the experience.
Overall
Not a recreation of the old Bow St style of pot stills, more a re-imagining. Would it really be wise to recreate those amazing but flawed old whiskeys anyway? This is all about the journey where the flavours evolve beautifully from start to finish. Hopefully they will make more of it.
Omar Fitzell
Omar has been lurking in the background of the Irish Whiskey Industry since 2010 when he started his journey through tasting, enjoying and collecting whiskey. In January 2018 he launched the online blog “That’s Dram Good” which, in those few short months, has become one of the most popular whiskey blogs in Ireland.
You can find him on:
• Twitter – @thatsdramgood
• Facebook – ThatsDramGood
Al Higgins
Over 20 years of experience in drinks retail and a member of the team at the Celtic Whiskey Shop since 2003. Alastair is chief tester and taster at the shop and is also coordinator for the Irish Whiskey Awards. When he is not working he is either training for ultra-marathons, parenting or drumming with his band Le Galaxie.
You can find him on:
• Twitter – @mostlydrinking