I've had a few new ones recently, thought I'd share impressions.
K8teebug, you inspired me to get that Redbreast and I liked it a lot, though not enough to delve into Irish since my love for bourbon runs strong. Then in the span of 10 minutes, I read about this new ulrta-rare Irish whiskey and then had an email from Dinkupny offering it up. It's very good and worth seeking out, plus it's under $50, which is a nice price for a premium whiskey. Strongly recommended if you like Irish. If you don't or are new to it, I'd start with the Redbreast.
A major disappointment, especially at $65 a pop. Redemption is a new-ish brand that's made a mark, in my opinion, due more to its nifty looking bottles than what's inside. I haven't disliked their regular iterations of bourbon or rye but they're both just kind of 'there' and there's options that are so much better. I had a feeling this 121 proof bottling might have the special something... and, nope. It's just overly hot, middle of the road rye. It is possible to do high proof whiskey that still has nuance and charm -- just get a bottle of Bookers, which is a Jim Beam juice for Christ's sakes -- and Redemption is not that.
And really, why drink mediocre drink when there's all these hidden gems out there just waiting to be discovered. The Johnny Drum almost looks to me like one of those dusty $8 bottles you see on the bottom shelf, so the $35 price tag was a leap even though I'll drop twice that on a whim. I don't really subscribe to the chin-stroking "Oh hmm hmm, I detect notes of virgin apples dancing with rutebaga" but instead say, I keep coming back to this. It's really kind of fun and tasty, surprisingly smooth for a 100+ proof, and it's pretty fun to say "Johnny Drum."
I'm pretty sure I already wrote about this one, but I just have to reiterate how good this is. The marketing "story" behind it is pure bunk but I swear, a glass of this is candy in a bottle. Probably my most loved whiskey of the past year and a half (which is around when I started to get into this stuff seriously).
