Country: Ireland
Brand: Kilbeggan
Type: Blended Whiskey
Age: NAS
ABV: 40%
Date: 30/11/2012
Colour: Pale Straw/Light Amber
Nose: Light. Some Citrus (mainly Lemon), Slightly Sharp Grain, Acetone, Plastic, Oak, Malt, Creamy Vanilla, Light Spices, Pear and Toast with Margarine and Pineapple Marmalade. The Alcohol is nicely subdued. It's not bad but I can't get very excited about it either.
Taste: Sweet Grain, Caramel, Malt, Salted Nuts, Nougat, Oak, Lemon, Light Spices. All in all utterly forgettable. I almost fell asleep while tasting!
Finish: Sweet Grain, Barley Sugar, Pepper, Oak and Licorice. Dryer towards the end. The Licorice comes back after a couple of minutes.
I added a few drops of Water and that takes the sharp edges of the Nose. Although it becomes even lighter, you will get some Honey and Fruit in return. Palate and Finish however get too thin and slightly bitter as well. As the Nose is the best part of this whiskey anyway, I would advise you to Nose the Kilbeggan both neat and with a bit of water.
Rating: 77.5 (out of 100)
Nose: 20 - Taste: 19 - Finish: 19 - Overall: 19.5
The Old Kilbeggan Distillery
General Remarks: The Old Kilbeggan Distillery, formerly known as Brosna Distillery and Locke's Distillery is located on the banks of the river Brosna in Westmeath County. It was founded in 1757 and finally closed in 1957. Twenty-Five years later it became a Whiskey Distillery Museum. In the 80's, the Cooley Distillery bought the licence to produce Kilbeggan. Since 2010 the Kilbeggan is operational again but their first whiskies will only reach the market in 2014. The Blend we test today was still produced at the Cooley Distillery. But it is still matured in the old granite Kilbeggan warehouses in used Bourbon casks. It's cheap at around US$ 18.
Drinking Experience Neat: Okay/Good
Conclusion: In general I'm not too thrilled by Irish Whiskey so far. As always there are exceptions to the rule like the Redbreast 12 and the Green Spot. But most of them a bit too light for my taste. I also often find this Plastic/Acetone off-note that I don't care for. Unfortunately the Kilbeggan is not an exception but it follows the general rule. As such I most likely won't come back to this spirit in future days.
Jan van den Ende November 2012
