MICHAEL COLLINS 10-YEAR “LIGHTLY
PEATED”
SINGLE MALT IRISH
WHISKEY
Cooley are
making some fine juice, their recent acquisition by Beam notwithstanding. This particular whiskey, Michael Collins
10-year, is a delicious, feminine Irish, possessed of all the creamy, floral
flavors you’d expect to find, wrapped up with just a hint of peat. Not as tropical as its cousin
Slieve Foy, nor as smoky as Connemara, this single-malt hits a refreshing,
luminous sweet spot somewhere in the middle.
nose: Soft
saddle leather, buttered honey, ripe peach, and golden shiro plum coil around
intimate floral notes of lily and rosepetal, with a suggestion of
banana. These high-tone aromas move into
freshly turned moss and sweet stones-after-rain, with a nostalgic hint of peat
smoke on the very finish.
palate: An initial creaminess, a sweet, heathery hit, flows right into peppery mango candy, balanced on banana
pudding & nilla wafers, with a hint of tidal funk midpalate. Scrumptious, lip-smacking salted dulce de
leche and candied lemons coil like a purring cat round a core of fresh
chamomile. The liquid is supple on the
tongue, without the slightest bit of heaviness.
On the end, there are slatey blueberry skins and seawater, with just a
waft of driftwood-fire smoke.
All in
all, this is a yummy Irish, a definite must-try for any lover of whiskeys from
that country. Dangerously easy to drink,
it shows real elegance and structure- it’s refined without pretension, and
though not very long, the flavors bring you back for another sip. A decent value for a single malt at this age,
the Michael Collins 10-year is a tasty bottle that makes a nice addition to your Irish section.
