Reference Whisky — Malthound

Redbreast Dream Cask ‘Oloroso Sherry Edition’ Ballot Massively Over Subscribed!

May 26, 2021 by Gary Leave a Comment

Redbreast Dream Cask

Thousands of whiskey fans from around the world entered an online ballot to purchase a limited-edition bottle of Redbreast Dream Cask – the fourth in the annual series produced by Irish Distillers at Midleton Distillery in Co. Cork.

With just 924 bottles available globally, over 11,000 people signed up for a chance to purchase this year’s Dream Cask Oloroso Sherry Edition, launched through Redbreast’s online members’ club, The Birdhouse.

This year’s release is extremely special to me as it combines traditional whiskey making with new ways of finishing to create a remarkable whiskey. A joy to behold with every sip, Dream Cask Oloroso Sherry Edition will take our successful entrants on a journey from Ireland to the Spanish bodegas of Jerez de la Frontera where our Oloroso cask was sourced.

We have been overwhelmed by the phenomenal response to this year’s ballot and delighted to see the continued momentum for our renowned Redbreast Dream Cask collection. With consumers as far afield as Iceland, Hong Kong and South Africa we are proud to see Redbreast Irish Whiskey taking flight across the globe.
– Billy Leighton: Master Blender at Irish Distillers

The Redbreast Birdhouse provides Irish whiskey fans with exclusive access to limited-edition releases, information on the growing Redbreast family, alongside interviews from the Midleton Masters and unique Redbreast gifts. Redbreast Dream Cask Oloroso Sherry Edition is the latest release in a series of limited-edition Redbreast Irish whiskeys unveiled on an annual basis to mark World Whisky Day.

Redbreast Whiskey is also available to buy from these online Merchants:-

BILLY LEIGHTON’S REDBREAST DREAM CASK – An Exclusive Tasting Of A Rare Dram!

May 25, 2017 by Gary Leave a Comment

#RedbreastDreamCask – ready to rock!

Last Saturday I had the good fortune to be part of Redbreast Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey’s www.facebook.com/RedbreastSinglePotStill, a Facebook LIVE tasting of a rare and exclusive Redbreast Irish whiskey to celebrate World Whisky Day 2017.

Head Blender Billy Leighton had hand-selected a Redbreast single cask and Billy then led the 20-minute tasting with Redbreast Apprentice Blender Dave McCabe, from warehouse A1 in the grounds of the Midleton Distillery, to a global audience of whiskey fans.

#RedbreastDreamCask is a single cask single pot still Irish whiskey that offers a unique take on Redbreast’s full bodied flavour profile, renowned for its signature Christmas cake character – the result of a strong contribution from Oloroso sherry casks.

A surprise was in store for us all!

Leighton and McCabe took whiskey fans on a whistle-stop journey through the history of Redbreast and shared the qualities that make the range the definitive example of single pot still whiskey from Ireland.

Finally, Billy let us know exactly what we would be tasting. The dram we were to sample was drawn from Cask 41207 with a final 46.7% ABV. This olorosso sherry cask is a recask from 2011.

Before that it spent 25 years in re-fill ex-bourbon barrel making this dram just over 31 years old!

So, what did I think? Here are my tasting notes …

Tasting Notes – Redbreast Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey – 31 Years Old (46.7%)

Colour: Beautiful, rich, mahogany colour with glorious depth.

Nose: Blood oranges, rich dark fruits, blackcurrant.

Palate: Succuluent dark fruits, blackcurrants and blood orange abounds. Vanilla caramel adds a creamy accompaniment.

Finish: Black coffee, fresh pepper and very, very long!

Overall: This is a rich feast of flavours! The nose is exceptional and promises very great things. The taste does not disappoint, it is intense and satisfying. A rare treat and my tastebuds have rarely been so spoiled!

Redbreast is available to buy from these Whisky Merchants:-

Edencroft Fine Wine & Spirit Specialists
Master of Malt
The Whisky Exchange
The Green Welly Stop

Reference Series III.2 is the World’s Best Blended Malt Whisky!

March 24, 2016 by Gary Leave a Comment

Reference Series III.2

Reference Series III.2 is the World’s Best Blended Malt Whisky!

The educational Whisky Reference Series III.2 has been named the World’s Best Blended Malt at the World Whiskies Awards 2016.

The World’s Best Blended Malt at the World Whiskies Awards 2016!

Reference Series III is created with a very high proportion (>50%) of incredibly well-aged single malts, making for a superb, incredibly complex blended malt in its own right. The .2 edition then adds ~10% heavily peated Islay whisky.

Reference Series asks questions such as “What would happen if you added some peated stock to an already excellent blend of Scotch malt whiskies?” The answer, it seems, is that you get the very best blended malt in the world!

More than that, though, whisky fans are granted the opportunity to taste this whisky before (III) and after (III.2) the addition of the peated component and be confident that any difference is down to the addition of the peated single malt, rather than the underlying whisky or any other production difference.

The range’s ongoing experiments have also dealt with questions such as “What would happen if you changed the proportions of younger or older whiskies within a blended malt?” and “What would happen if you finished parts of those blended malts in fresh, first-fill 50 litre ex-Pedro Ximénez Sherry casks?”

Reference Series III.2 (RRP £250.95) and the rest of the range (starting at an RRP of £52.95) are available now from Master of Malt.

Tasting Notes: The Reference Range Of Whisky Just Got Bigger!

October 2, 2014 by Gary Leave a Comment

Edu-Dram-cation!

New Samples To Study!

The ‘Reference Series’ is the very first range of educational blended malt Scotch whiskies.

A ground-breaking idea and unique in the marketplace, these blended malt Scotch whiskies not only enable drinkers to learn the ins and outs of whisky production techniques, but also taste superb in their own right, making the learning process thoroughly enjoyable.

The initial 3 releases of the Reference Series comprises blended whiskies which progress from I to III with increasing levels of old, rare and more characterful spirit in the mix.

This will show whisky lovers the progression of flavour profile that comes with the ageing process – a hotly disputed topic which can be clearly understood and appreciated in a controlled manner.

The range will eventually expand further to showcase particular ingredients or production techniques on top of this initial trio, which will be indicated in the name.

‘Reference Series’ is named for the fact one can taste the later editions then “refer” back to the original I, II & III for comparison.

Over time, the series will offer more and more combinations of ingredients and techniques, eventually growing to become the ultimate learning resource to truly understand the production and creation of whisky.

The entire range is available in 3cl bottles from Drinks by the Dram (available now, exclusively from Master Of Malt), so each whisky can be sampled without the need to purchase a full-sized bottle.

Learning has never been so much fun!

Tasting Notes – Reference Series II

Reference Series II has a much higher proportion of very old single malts than Reference Series I.

Reference Series II

Nose: Pale straw colour. Orange fragrances mixed with oak.

Palate: Spicy with zesty orange, sweet sherry and a slight hint of dryness but well tempered.

Finish: Peppery finish, grapefruit, satisfyingly long, oaky.

Overall: A great drinkable dram, well rounded.

50cl, 47.5%

£55.95

Tasting Notes – Reference Series II.3

I’m tasting this out of order (what a rebel!) but this Reference Series just takes a portion of the Reference Series II blend and includes the colouring agent, E150a, also called Spirit Caramel.

Spirit caramel is used by distilleries and brands to achieve consistency of colour between batches whilst not affecting the flavour but this has been a matter of conjecture.

Reference Series II.3 allows you to form your own opinion!

Reference Series II.3

Nose: Darker than II, more like amber. Minty, orange and caramel.

Palate: Fruity with sweet chocolate.

Finish: Spicy hit more pronounced, sweeter finish and grapefruit is still there.

Overall: Though it should taste basically the same I find that this seems sweeter, even icing sugary when compared to the II. Interesting!

50cl, 47.2%

£55.95

Tasting Notes – Reference Series II.1

This Reference Series takes a portion of the Reference Series II blend and finishes it in a fresh 50 litre cask previously used to hold Pedro Ximénez Sherry.

Reference Series II.1

Nose: Sweet, woody with a lovely chocolatey aroma.

Palate: Rich, sweet, sherried fruits.

Finish: Long, peppery sweet n’ spicy that goes on forever.

Overall: Amazing how much sweetness the sherry casks impart when compared with II. It’s achieved a pleasant softness that was missing before.

50cl, 47.5%

£59.95

Tasting Notes – Reference Series II.2

This Reference Series takes a portion of the Reference Series II blend and includes 10% heavily peated Islay Single Malt.

Reference Series II.2

Nose: Heavy peat, smoke and woodyness – basically dominating the nose.

Palate: Peat and smokey, sweet cake mixture and orange.

Finish: Long pepper spice, peat remains but not so powerfully.

Overall: The peats the thing with this dram but not so much as to totally swamp the blend altogether. Nice!

50cl, 47.4%

£56.95

Once again, much food (or drams) for thought – it’s really quite a challenge for the tastebuds and a unique way to see how a whiskies flavour changes with staged additions.

My favourite is proably the Reference Series II.2 with the 10% heavily peated Islay Single Malt. Always a bit of a sucker for peated whiskies I found this to be a nice balance between the range.

But don’t take my word for it – get back to school and enjoy some in-depth study yourself!

Many thanks to @MaverickDrinks for the samples.

Tasting Notes: Reference Series – The First Educational Whisky!

April 25, 2014 by Gary Leave a Comment

I, II, III, GO!

Reference Series: The First Educational Whisky –
Learning has never been so much fun!

Established just this year, new whisky bottler ‘Reference Series’ has launched the very first range of educational blended malt Scotch whiskies.

A ground-breaking idea, truly unique in the marketplace, these blended malt Scotch whiskies not only enable drinkers to learn the ins and outs of whisky production techniques, but also taste superb in their own right, making the learning process thoroughly enjoyable.

The initial 3 releases of the Reference Series comprises blended whiskies which progress from I to III with increasing levels of old, rare and more characterful spirit in the mix.

This will show whisky lovers the progression of flavour profile that comes with the ageing process – a hotly disputed topic which can be clearly understood and appreciated in a controlled manner.

Reference Series will launch with whiskies made with the following ingredients:-

A – A youthful vibrant blended malt

B – An older, more complex, spicy blended malt

C – An old single malt

D – A very, very old single malt

The proportions of these are as follows:

Reference Series I – A (83%), B (9%), C (4%), D (4%)
Reference Series II – A (67%), B (13%), C (10%), D (10%)
Reference Series III – A (36%), B (10%), C (19%), D (35%)

The range will expand further to showcase particular ingredients or production techniques on top of this initial trio, which will be indicated in the name.

‘Reference Series’ is named for the fact one can taste the later editions then “refer” back to the original I, II & III for comparison.

Over time, the series will continue to expand to offer more and more combinations of ingredients and techniques, eventually growing to become the ultimate learning resource to truly understand the production and creation of whisky.

The entire range will be available in 3cl bottles from Drinks by the Dram (available for purchase at Master of Malt), so each whisky can be sampled without purchase of a full-sized bottle.

Reference Series is available exclusively from Master Of Malt.

Education has never been so much fun!

Tasting Notes – Reference Series I

Proportions of malts: A (83%), B (9%), C (4%), D (4%)

Reference Series I

Nose: Pale, straw like whisky. Citrus scents, sultana, even a hint of melon!

Palate: Apple, dry sherry, stewed fruit.

Finish: Muted spice, sweet sherry fading to dry.

Overall: A little fiery at the finish but this is a very drinkable blended whisky.

50cl, 47.5%

£36.95

Tasting Notes – Reference Series II

Proportions of malts: A (67%), B (13%), C (10%), D (10%)

Reference Series II

Nose: Light golden colour. Orange fragrances mixed with oak.

Palate: Spicy, zesty orange, sweet sherry, slight hint of dryness but well tempered.

Finish: Peppery finish, satisfyingly long, oaky.

Overall: Much fuller dram, more rounded, less fiery. Very nice!

50cl, 47.5%

£53.95

Tasting Notes – Reference Series III

Proportions of malts: A (35.9%), B (9.7%), C (16.5%), D (35%)

Reference Series III

Nose: Honey coloured delight! Toffee, vanilla and hints of coffee.

Palate: Luscious, warm, sweet luxury! Slight pepper. Smooth, smooth, smooth!

Finish: Long warm spice, sweet ‘hot’ chocolate, slightly herbal.

Overall: Amazing! It had to be my favourite didn’t it? Smooth, warming and full-bodied. Delightful!

50cl, 47.5%

£105.95

Many thanks to @MaverickDrinks for the samples.

Redbreast Dream Cask ‘Oloroso Sherry Edition’ Ballot Massively Over Subscribed!

BILLY LEIGHTON’S REDBREAST DREAM CASK – An Exclusive Tasting Of A Rare Dram!

Tasting Notes – Redbreast Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey – 31 Years Old (46.7%)

Reference Series III.2 is the World’s Best Blended Malt Whisky!

Reference Series III.2 is the World’s Best Blended Malt Whisky!