Irish Whiskey bottle under 200 USD, what do you like or recommend?

[rfjustin]

Irish Whiskey bottle under 200 USD, what do you like or recommend?

 

[SolarYellow]

I'm not hardcore into this topic, but I do like Bushmills, especially the nicer variants.

I'd also look at Macallan. It's not Irish, but it doesn't have the heavy peat usually associated with scotch. Am a fan.

 

[Rocket-Fan]

Bold move to bring up scotch in an Irish whiskey thread!

Personally I'm a bourbon drinker but I'll put out some feelers to my Irish relatives (in Ireland) and see what they have to say. But they may scoff at the $200 price lol.

 

[Cape Byron]

Six bottles of Jameson.

Five bottles of Tullamore Dew.

5 1/2 bottles of Proper Twelve.

(Spot the theme...)

 

[Wrightme43]

22 years sober, but I really really really liked Old Bushmills. So much that I kept one bottle in the house, that I would pour a small amount out of in a glass, then 1 or 2 more bottles in the garage that I would pour huge amounts out of, then replace much more often. It is a fine whiskey, I am just not able to have any.

 

[SolarYellow]

Bold move to bring up scotch in an Irish whiskey thread!

My grandmother was Danish-Irish on her mom's side and Scots on her dad's side. What do the Danes drink?

 

[Rocket-Fan]

My grandmother was Danish-Irish on her mom's side and Scots on her dad's side. What do the Danes drink?

Aquavit!

 

[NateB]

Another vote for Bushmills, but I'm not as versed in the Irish Whiskeys and typically drink Bourbon.

 

[farsidius]

A lot of good Irish Whiskeys under $100. I always keep two labels in my library:

• Redbreast 12 yr, Single Pot Still is a great smooth drinking option, especially popular with people that like Scotch.
• Knappogue Castle 12 yr Single Malt is a great example of a more traditional Irish Whiskey.

Both of these typically run in the $45 to $65 range, with the Red Breast being toward the more expensive end. Both are great options for drinking neat.

 

[Worsaer]

A lot of good Irish Whiskeys under $100. I always keep two labels in my library:

• Redbreast 12 yr, Single Pot Still is a great smooth drinking option, especially popular with people that like Scotch.
• Knappogue Castle 12 yr Single Malt is a great example of a more traditional Irish Whiskey.

Both of these typically run in the $45 to $65 range, with the Red Breast being toward the more expensive end. Both are great options for drinking neat.

Totally agree on Knappogue Castle!

 

[bobby_hamill]

I will take what Scotty is drinking

 

[BrendanH69]

Six bottles of Jameson.

Five bottles of Tullamore Dew.

5 1/2 bottles of Proper Twelve.

(Spot the theme...)

and a Red Breast in a pear tree?

 

[Art Upton]

Six bottles of Jameson.

Five bottles of Tullamore Dew.

5 1/2 bottles of Proper Twelve.

(Spot the theme...)

A shopping list? Like:
"Pound pastrami, can kraut, six bagels—bring home for Emma." ?

 

[cwbullet]

Irish Whiskey bottle under 200 USD, what do you like or recommend?

That does not narrow the aperture a lot. $200 will get a damn good bottle of bourbon.

 

[RiffD]

Irish whiskey under $200?

Redbreast, especially if the consumer tends to prefer bourbon flavors. Couple of choices, could go with the standby of Redbreast 12, or if you want to spend a little more Redbreast 12 cask strength or Redbreast 15. The cask strength is phenomenal.

Bushmills 12 is a staple in my cabinet and a step up would be Bushmills 16 which should still be comfortably in your range.

The Spot series is also fairly popular, both Green Spot and Yellow Spot would be within the range. Might even be able to snag both within your range.

 

[Rocket-Fan]

So I heard back from my clan in Ireland, Yellow Spot and Red Spot were mentioned more than once. Bushmills 16 was another recommendation.

Pretty similar to what @RiffD posted.

 

[ejpyle.mgb]

Irish Whiskey bottle under 200 USD, what do you like or recommend?

I'm quite the fan of Irish Wiskeys, having traveled there regularly since 2008. The Green Spot is the best value for the money (~$60), but the Yellow Spot (~$100) and Red Spot (~$175) are excellent. The Red Breast (bird) is about ~$75 and quite good. A relative newcomer that is excellent is Drumshambo, (~$70). A colleague of mine, who really likes the peated stuff, is fond of Connemara (don't know the price off hand as I don't care for the stuff). A relatively lighter taste but still good flavor is Writer's Tears (~$40). Stay away from Three Gingers - utter swill.

 

[John Beans]

Jameson’s Redbreast 12 is a great $55 gift item for whiskey drinkers. But my all-time favorite splurge is their Midleton Very Rare, which Costco sells for $199.

Smooth and buttery and caramely.

All of these I listed are made by Jameson in Midleton Ireland.

 

[ejpyle.mgb]

Pity Virginia Costcos can't carry liquor!

 

[bad_idea]

Bushmills 12 is a staple in my cabinet and a step up would be Bushmills 16 which should still be comfortably in your range.

I've never branched out much in Irish whiskeys, but back when Bushmills 16 was $60-70/bottle, I bought it every now and then and enjoyed it. Now it costs more around here than Lagavulin 16, which makes it a tougher sell.

 

[Hobie1dog]

This page is dedicated to Irish whiskeys under $200
https://www.caskers.com/spirits/whiskey/irish/

 

[Hobie1dog]

Jameson’s Redbreast 12 is a great $55 gift item for whiskey drinkers. But my all-time favorite splurge is their Midleton Very Rare, which Costco sells for $199.

Smooth and buttery and caramely.

All of these I listed are made by Jameson in Midleton Ireland.

But this is what he is most famous for:

"James Sligo Jameson was a Scottish naturalist and traveller in Africa. He identified the black honey-buzzard in 1877. Jameson's antpecker, Jameson's firefinch, and Jameson's wattle-eye are named after him. However, he is most remembered for his role in causing a slave girl to be killed and eaten by cannibals. He wanted to watch them eat her."

 

[John Beans]

I'm quite the fan of Irish Wiskeys, having traveled there regularly since 2008. The Green Spot is the best value for the money (~$60), but the Yellow Spot (~$100) and Red Spot (~$175) are excellent. The Red Breast (bird) is about ~$75 and quite good. A relative newcomer that is excellent is Drumshambo, (~$70). A colleague of mine, who really likes the peated stuff, is fond of Connemara (don't know the price off hand as I don't care for the stuff). A relatively lighter taste but still good flavor is Writer's Tears (~$40). Stay away from Three Gingers - utter swill.

+1 to these.
In fact, I chose Green Spot over its other spot brothers for taste, even though it’s the most reasonably priced. To me it’s got a real banana-like sweetness from it.

 

[bjphoenix]

Question to people who drink Irish and Scotch- what does Bourbon taste like to you?

 

[John Beans]

Question to people who drink Irish and Scotch- what does Bourbon taste like to you?

Typically to me they tend to have what I describe as a harsh hairspray after taste, which one winemaker explained is probably a sensitivity to ethyl acetate. I have yet to find a bourbon I really like.

 

[hball55]

Well, I guess Johnny Walker Blue Label doesn’t rate in here. Was expensive, around $267 a bottle at Costco 15 years ago. Still burns my throat going down.

After posting this, I took the bottle out and when I pulled the stopper out, the cork broke inside the neck Had to go to Amazon to get one of those liquor pour spout because I couldn’t find the right size cork as a replacement.

 

[bjphoenix]

Typically to me they tend to have what I describe as a harsh hairspray after taste, which one winemaker explained is probably a sensitivity to ethyl acetate. I have yet to find a bourbon I really like.

As I understand it the differences are bourbon is made from a sweeter starting mixture, and it is always aged in new oak so it pulls more flavor and other things from the wood. With the difference in aging bourbon is usually not aged as long as scotch, more than 10 years can be detrimental. Another thing I've noticed is bourbon is frequently higher proof.

 

[BrendanH69]

Back in my home country of N.Ireland, Black Bush is the standard everyday drinking whiskey for the vast majority of pubs.

In recent years, I've gravitated to Glendalough small batch (when I can get it) but Redbreast 12 is my current favourite.

I've tried a few of the other Bushmills "specials' up at the distillery on the North Coast of Antrim on visits home in the last 6 years and I really don't rate the Bushmills 12yrs that well. Sorry! Two that I prefer are Pearse 12yr Single Malt (Bourban cask aged) and Teeling's 13yr single grain (Bordeaux cask aged).

 

[John Beans]

Interesting (at least to me) is that at some point years ago I asked a whiskey master what the “smoothest whiskey is,” and he said, “Probably Bushmills.”

So I got some. I learned two things:

1. Yep, it’s smooth
2. Smooth alone isn’t so great

I would describe it as kinda whiskey water. No bad tastes, but also no caramel or butter or other nice taste notes either.

Your mileage may very. Just my thoughts/taste.

 

[bjphoenix]

Interesting (at least to me) is that at some point years ago I asked a whiskey master what the “smoothest whiskey is,” and he said, “Probably Bushmills.”

I've had this discussion online WRT bourbon. Bourbon seems to have more "bite" than other whisky variants and smooth doesn't apply so much.