Tasting Time: The Sexton Single Malt Irish Whiskey
🏺 History/Background - The Sexton Single Malt Irish Whiskey had its US release in late 2018, and just after that it was released in Ireland. Mystery surrounded its early days on the market and it's now accepted that Bushmills are the folks behind the crafting of The Sexton.
The Sexton is a NAS (no age statement) Single Malt Irish Whiskey but according to Master Blender Alex Thomas (of Bushmills) on The Sexton website she has "perfected a shorter 4 year aging process" and that the whiskey is triple distilled in a copper pot still and aged in Oloroso Sherry casks, or butts.
It's quite possible the most unusually packaged Irish Whiskey on the shelf with its hexagonal (six sided) bottle of dark glass and the very distinctive label that features a top hat wearing human skeleton wearing a top hat.
The Sexton Single Malt Irish Whiskey
☠️ The Name - A Sexton was a person who worked at a Church and amongst their tasks they would have been responsible for everything from bell ringing to grave digging!
🥃 Style - Single Malt - NAS (No Age Statement)
🔢 The Numbers - $24 to $32 + Tax | 750ml. | 46% abv/92proof | 3lbs/1374gms
👀 Appearance - This whiskey shows a golden brown color which for a whiskey so relatively young hints at caramel addition.
👃 Nose - On the nose, it's clean, and initially shows light spice and sweet caramel notes. There’s a roasted nut character that I pick up too and there are also baked fruit overtones - like a winter baked crumble with a side serving of whipped cream. With Water Added - the nose smells balanced with spice, nuttiness, and fruit character. No one of these really stands out or comes to the fore for me.
👅 Palate - This is a mouth filling whiskey with evident sweetness and a warm spice character surrounding the sweetness. It’s balanced in the mouth and shows fruit character - stewed apple - and a warm medium-length finish. With Water Added - The warm spice character - baking spice to me - comes to the fore and there’s a crushed black pepper tickle on the tongue.
📝 Conclusion - A well-made and pleasing Single Malt that’s balanced in the mouth without showing any real discernable flavor characteristics. For the pierce in the mid $20 price range I think it’s a great value and would call it a good Irish Whiskey. I do think that some more alcohol - 43% or 46% - would possibly help some of the flavor characteristics shine through a little more.
✅ Rating - On my not-too-scientific scale of 1 to 5 - with 1=Poor and 5=Excellent/Off The Hook and I give 3 whiskey emojis to The Sexton Single Malt Irish Whiskey 🥃🥃🥃
📔 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!