As the second day is upon us, and upon opening the second door still giddy over our first day treat, Tullamore D.E.W. 18-year-old single malt, there was little that could really top that. Day two has certainly taken a swing across the spectrum from the super-premium to the value segment with Paddy Irish whiskey.
Paddy Irish Whiskey has been in the Irish Distillers wheel house for almost half of its existence until its sale to the Sazerac beverage company in 2016.
Paddy has been a triple blend whiskey since its assumption into the Irish Distillers portfolio in the 1960’s. This expression is a blend of pot still, malt and grain whiskeys out of the Midleton Distillery matured for a minimum of three years with no age statement on the bottle. Paddy has an RRP of approximately €28 in the Republic of Ireland. It has a historic relationship with the county of Cork where whiskey salesman ‘Paddy Flaherty’ sold this whiskey the length and breadth of the county.
In a move to honour this prolific salesperson, Cork Distilleries Company (the original owners of the brand) purchased the rights to Paddy’s name. The contract was signed in 1912 and his name adorned every bottle from 1913 on-wards.
As I mentioned previously, the brand now resides with the Sazerac company who have a long term supply agreement with the Midleton Distillery to supply the brand. They have recently re-branded the historic brand to include a possessive ‘S’, turning the brand from ‘Paddy Irish Whiskey’ to ‘Paddy’s Irish Whiskey’. This was a move that was met with large amounts of criticism from the Irish whiskey enthusiasts, a move that was made somewhat more ‘Oirish’ by the caricature of Mr Paddy Flaherty sporting a bowler cap and a shamrock in his lapel, on the rear of the bottle.
Regardless of the ‘S’ or not, what’s in the bottle?
ABV: 40%
Colour: Straw Gold.
Nose: an incredibly light nose of caramel, green apple, a hint of orange, honey and a hint of shaved oak.
Palate: bright and honey sweet palate, apples follow through from nose with hints of vanilla.
Finish: vanilla and alcohol warmth follow through.
Overall, not a fantastic whiskey but not terrible either. Which is exactly what a €28 blend really should be. It will be interesting to see what Sazerac have in store for the brand in the coming years. One can hope that they will restore it to its rightful pedestal in Irish whiskey but only time will tell.
Some what of a let down after such an amazing start to the calendar with Tully 18, but perhaps my expectations were set too high from the treat in the beginning.
The issues around the actual opening of the advent windows have persisted and it was actually incredibly difficult to open the window at all today. Fingers crossed that this does not persist.
Leave a Reply