Tasting Notes
Nose: Smokey with fresh apple and pears and subtle wood.
Taste: Silky smooth with sweet honey and malted barley, ending up in peat.
Finish: Long and peaty.
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Connemara Peated Single Malt Whiskey is named after an area of outstanding beauty on the western-most point of Europe, and is produced by the Cooley distillery using a mix of peated malt and unpeated Irish malts. It comes with no age statement, but is usually aged for around 7 years in ex-bourbon casks. This whiskey has won numerous awards, and if you believe the claim from their website, is actually Ireland’s most decorated whiskey. Most recent awards include “Best Irish Single Malt 12 years or younger” at the Irish Whiskey awards.
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Irish Whiskey Awards: Best Irish Single Malt (RRP Less than €60) 2015
World Whiskies Awards: Gold Medal 2014Irish Whiskey Masters: Gold Medal 2014
San Francisco Wine and Spirits Awards: Gold Medal 2013 -
Named after an area of outstanding natural beauty on the west coast of Ireland, Connemara is a rarity among Irish whiskeys in that the main draw is the smokiness, normally associated with Islay malts. In reality, the style of whiskey was historically popular in Ireland as distillers tended to dry their malt using whatever fuel they had to hand, which for large parts of the country was peat. The practice died out in the 19th century as whiskey became big business in Ireland. It’s said that when the Cooley Distillery originally had no plans to make a smoky whiskey, but at some point peaty malt was bought and run through the stills with great results. Connemara whiskey is a welcome return to one of Ireland’s Ireland’s ancient distilling traditions and its smooth sweet malt taste with complex peat flavours make it a truly unique Irish whiskey.
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Producer Kilbeggan Distilling Company Style Single Malt Age No age statement Volume 70CL ABV 40%