Tasting Time: Jameson Irish Whiskey
🏺 History/Background - Jameson is the top-selling Irish Whiskey in the world with over 10 million cases (12 x 750ml) sold in the 12 months to June 2022. Almost 6 million of those were sold in the US with Jameson accounting for almost 4/5th’s of all Irish Whiskey sold in America.
Jameson Irish Whiskey
🏴 The Name - Named after John Jameson who was born in the town of Alloa, near Stirling, in Scotland in 1740. He bought a distillery at Bow St. in Dublin in 1780 and the rest, as they say, is history!
🥃 Style - Blended Irish Whiskey - NAS (No Age Statement)
🔢 The Numbers - $22 to $28 + Tax | 750ml. | 40% abv/80 proof | 3lbs 11oz/1235gms
👀 Appearance - Jameson Irish Whiskey shows a middle-of-the-road Golden-Brown color(u)r and as we know with mass-produced Irish Whiskeys, and Whisk(e)y, in general, to keep with brand consistency it’s had caramel added (allowed in lots of countries) to keep the colo(u)r consistent when it gets shipped to the four-corners-of-the-planet!
👃 Nose - The start of the fun bits! For me I get caramel, vanilla, a buttery character, and a hint of mint. And hiding away in there is an orange character that possibly reminds me of orange peel. I also pick up Christmas cake spices that remind me of that time of year growing up in Ireland! With Water Added - The fruit comes to the fore, more orange peel and a hint of apple while the baking spice mellows.
👅 Palate - In the mouth, it’s warm and has a middling mouthfeel. Those Christmas cake characters really come through for me and they’re combined with toffee and/or caramel, almost as if someone poured a toffee or caramel sauce on the Christmas cake! It has a decent length finish on which I get a choc-chip cookie character which is pretty pleasing. With Water Added - Similar to the nose with the spice character mellowing and more evident fruit on the palate - apple, pear, and orange.
📝 Conclusion - I like Jameson Irish Whiskey and there’s always a bottle of it in our house. It’s a perfect simple’ish sipper for Tuesday night however you want to sip it - neat, over ice (one cube or lots), with a drop of water, as a mixed drink, or in a cocktail. No surprise it’s the Irish Whiskey, along with Jameson Black Barrel that we use the most when we’re making cocktails, or Irish Coffee, because there’s no need to break into one of your fab Single Pot Still Irish Whiskeys for that!
✅ Rating - On my not-too-scientific scale of 1 to 5 - with 1=Poor and 5=Excellent/Off The Hook and I give 2.5 whiskey emojis to Jameson Irish Whiskey 🥃🥃1/2
📔 Notes - I use the Tuath Irish Whiskey Tasting Glass when I taste any spirits but especially when I’m tasting Irish Whiskey. I use it because, in my opinion, the flared wider top at the top of the glass allows the alcohol component of an Irish Whiskey to dissipate somewhat while allowing me to pick up the aromas and notes of the Whiskey from the center of the glass. I also use two glasses when I taste, pouring the Whiskey from one into the other and again this is a personal preference for me as it again allows me to get under the bonnet (hood) so to speak. When I use water in my tasting it is always Distilled Water as I reckon that distilled spirit deserves distilled water!