(Royal Oak Distillery, 44.3% ABV, ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, presumably coloured and chill filtered, 2021 release)
The title says it all really. I’m jumping the Saint Patrick’s Day bandwagon this month (please notice how I’m carefully avoiding the abbreviation Paddy Wagon here, btw). While I plead guilty when it comes to aiming for the centre of attention, there’s more to it than mere opportunism, as mainly I wanted a good reason/excuse to step away from Scotch for a wee bit (recalibrate the palate and what not). So with what is probably the most celebrated national holiday around the world coming up, it serves as a welcomed opportunity to expand the horizon a bit and check in on what the next door neighbours are up to. Because, ICYMI, Irish whiskey is booming, baby.
And because there’s an awful lot happening on the Emerald Isle when we’re talking whiskey (and to keep up at least some appearances that I’m not just shamelessly surfing the Saint Patrick’s Day Wave here), I’ll be focussing mainly on exactly a few of those new players in the Irish whiskey scene. Between now and roughly a decade ago, literally dozens of new Irish distilleries have seen the light of day with new ones in the planning as we speak, so the days where Middleton, Cooley and Bushmills pretty much had the realm to their own, are now officially over. According to Irish Whiskey Magazine, the counter now stops at 47 active distilleries, and while it’s obviously not the aim to cover each and all, I feel it’s definitely worth pausing and snooping around for a while. First stop: Royal Oak Distillery.
The story of Royal Oak Distillery is a bit of a peculiar one. When the Walsh family started creating and bottling sourced whiskey from Middleton in 2011 under the names Writer’s Tears and The Irishman, they soon felt the need for a distillery of their own. Backed by Italian drinks magnate Illva Saronno (yes, the one from THE Amaretto company), they gathered the necessary funds to start construction on a distillery of their own in 2014, to be located in Carlow, pretty much halfway between Waterford and Dublin. When in 2016 the Walsh Whiskey Distillery was up and running with Bernard Walsh at the helm, the 2.5 million LPA capacity distillery was set up with all the necessary equipment to start producing single malt, pot still and grain whiskey. Then, in 2019, a decision was made between the Walsh family and co-financer Illva Saronno to part ways again, with the Walshes focussing on Writer’s Tears and The Irishman brands, meaning the Italians gained full ownership and control of the distillery, renaming it to Royal Oak Distillery in the process. Soon after, in 2020, the new owners announced and introduced their own brand ‘The Busker’, offering a core range that consists of a single malt, a single grain, a pot still and a triple cask. What’s more, because of the Saronno distribution network, most of that core range is now readily available in supermarkets as well, and where the RRP for quite a lot of young, new distilleries can be a bit hefty at times, this single malt Irish whiskey set me back some €33 (£27). Having a 2.5 million LPA distillery and an international distribution network at your disposal comes with a few perks, it seems. Anyhow…
The nose
Grassy and herbaceous, in fact all about kitchen herbs at first glance. Wait for that to settle and I got notes of pear (without the characteristic sweetness, mind you), olive oil and cola gums, adding in a bit of sweetness. Add in hints of earthy and cereal notes and what we’ve got here is not your average nose. Quite interesting and promising in my book.
The taste
Definitely sweeter compared to the nose. Quite ‘clean’ as well, but again with that interesting balance between those grassy, earthy and herbal notes and olive oil on the one hand and a vanilla like sweetness with, pear drops and finally milky chocolate on the other. The body however comes across a bit thin, which is a pity I reckon, as this really screams for a thick, viscous and oily mouthfeel, and now it leaves me wanting a bit. I don’t know if this down to the fact that this could have been chill filtered (no information available, but as there’s no UCF statement anywhere on the label, I’m assuming it has been chill filtered), but it does take away if not flavour, then definitely texture on this one.
The finish
… does nothing to bounce back from this: a flash in the pan on the herbaceous notes with a slight sweetness and then it just drops off a cliff completely.
When nosing and sipping you’d expect this to build up to a well-rounded and increasingly developing experience, but instead it sort of builds up expectation to something that never really happens. Don’t get me wrong: this is a quite decent and enjoyable whiskey, and for the pricepoint there’s very little to argue about. It’s just that I feel there’s a bit of unfulfilled potential here that keeps nagging a bit, like a bit of a missed opportunity to create something really impressive. Still, if you’re looking for an Irish single malt that’s both budget friendly and anything but boring: The Busker is, in my book, well worth a try. 79/100, add to that the fact that this a very slappable bottle (it’s a thing, apparently) and it deserves an extra point.
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