Blue Spot!
I was lucky enough to be invited to the online launch of Irish Distillers’ ‘Blue Spot’ Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey yesterday which has reunited the original Spot whiskey family for the first time since the 1960s!
Blue Spot is non-chill filtered & cask strength
The highly anticipated Blue Spot has been reimagined at cask strength, paying homage to the bonding tradition from which it was born and as part of the event launch via ‘Zoom’ I was sent an amazing set of ‘Spot’ Whiskey samples to try!
Blue Spot’s name was derived from the Mitchell’s practice of marking their maturing casks of whiskey with a mark or daub of coloured paint to determine the age potential of the whiskey.
Blue Spot was a 7 year old whiskey, Green Spot (10 year old), Yellow Spot (12 Year Old) and Red Spot (15 year old).
⬤ Blue Spot is a Limited Edition, non-chill filtered, cask strength release that will see ABV varying annually.
(This release has an ABV of 58.7%)
Cask strength releases are a bit unusual for Irish Distillers but the decision was based solely on taste and it was felt that a higher ABV was the best way to represent the dram.
It is now available at the RRP of €80 in Ireland, UK, France, Canada, Northern Ireland and Global Travel Retail, and in the USA from February 2021.
So, what did I think? Here are my tasting notes …
Tasting Notes – ‘Blue Spot’ Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey (58.7%)
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Nose: Lots of apple, closely followed by pear. Toffee makes an appearance coupled with refreshing tropical fruit flavours that come through a little later. Quite nutty as well. Palate: Very smooth considering it’s formidable cask strength! Creamy toffee, chocolate and hints of tropical fruit. Cane sweetness tops it all off nicely. Finish: Spicy, fiery pepper (that is reduced with the addition of water.) Well balanced by creamy toffee and fruit. Overall: This dram is really lovely! Very drinkable, even at cask strength and I certainly agree with the decision that cask strength presents this dram at it’s best! It’s a limited edition so I doubt it’ll be available for long – so if I were you I’d grab your spot! |
And the future?
I asked as there are still a few more colours left in the rainbow, would they broaden the range in the future? Orange spot? Indigo spot maybe?!
The answer:
“Well they would be new releases but you can never say never.”
So … watch this spot!
Many thanks to spotwhiskey.com (Instagram: @GreenSpotIrishWhiskey) for the invite & the chance to try such an amazing set of drams!
Slainte!
⬤ Green Spot is available to buy from these Merchants:-
⬤ Yellow Spot is available to buy from these Merchants:-
⬤ Red Spot is available to buy from these Merchants:-
About Blue Spot
Blue Spot was originally produced by the Mitchell family who commenced trading in 1805 at 10 Grafton Street in the heart of Dublin city as purveyors of fine wine and confectionery. Seven generations later, the company is still in the wine and spirits business under the stewardship of Jonathan Mitchell and his son Robert.
The Mitchell family expanded into the whiskey bonding business in the early 1900s, whereby they sent empty wine and fortified wine casks via horse and cart to the local Jameson Distillery which were then filled with new Pot Still spirit and returned to the Mitchell’s maturation cellars. There, the whiskeys matured for many years under bond until they were ready to be bottled and sold.
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