Living Up To the Name

The  title "Mixed and Malted" took quite awhile to come up with and I was well pleased with myself when it came to me. I took more than a moment to pat myself on the back for conjuring up such a zingy little moniker for what I was sure would be the blog that took over the inter-web in just a few short postings (I've had to lengthen the timeline, but my intentions are still world domination).

Of course, there was just one minor glitch in the master plan, the 'Malted' part of the title implied that there would be a whiskey element to the blog and my whiskey knowledge is pretty average, at best, but I figured that eventually I'd just start buying Scotch and muddle through.

Now, here we are, a month into this thing and Buddha has provided. Last week, one of my friendly neighborhood wine reps stopped by the restaurant, with the global brand manager of Connemara Irish whiskey, and a recently uncorked bottle...or four.

What they uncorked was a unique spirit indeed, Connemara Peated Single Malt Irish Whiskey. Now I was under the impression that one of the easiest way to distinguish Irish and Scotch Whiskey was that the Scots used peat in their whisk(e)y making process and the Irish didn't. Apparently I was misinformed. The story is that the Irish traditionally used peat to dry the malted barley but switched to coal fires at some point in history when it became economical to import coal from Great Britain, Connemara is the lone exception.

Okay, down to the nitty gritty, honey caramel in colour, the nose of the whiskey is heavy with peat with more subtle elements of smoke and even trickier hints of fruit underneath. On the palate Connemara initially tastes more like a standard Irish Whiskey up front, smooth and sweet, but finishes with an eruption of peat and smoke. It was a very unique experience in managing expectations. I was warned about the peat but surprised at the smoothness and sweetness.

The bottom line is that Connemara is a nice experiment for the intermediate whiskey sipper, it's smooth, sweet Irish character make it approachable to all but the introduction of peat and smoke flavours and aromas hint at the Scotch single malts that are usually reserved for advanced drinkers.

Cheers.