As we inch closer to Christmas expect the reviews to have more of a whiskey bent, simply by nature of gifts, although we do have something truly special for xmas later this month that’s not a whiskey. Here we have a gift we got ourselves as it’s been a while since there’s been an Irish Whiskey on the site. Thankfully this is a gift well received, and despite it’s very brash design, be assured it’s not nearly as brash in the glass having been calmed with spices and honey.
While the ABV does hit you in the burn, this is otherwise a delicious dram with aforementioned spices. While it’s a bit on the pricier side of things you’d normally see at this ‘shelf-level’ it makes up by not having any sort spots, and being just overall delicious. There’s quite a few different versions of Busker, and we look forward to trying them out just so long as our review schedule doesn’t look a bit too whiskey-y post-christmas.
What they Say: “Bottle Side: One of our three traditional Irish whiskeys. Long warm finish with a beautiful spice.
Bottle Back: Meet The Busker. Its roots run deep at Royal Oak Distillery, the home of Irish Whiskey culture. Where all types of traditional Whiskeys (Grain, Malt and Pot) are made under one roof. The Busker Pot Still is a distinctive expression to Ireland, created to bring you on a journey of exceptional character. It opens with a rich and complex bouquet, consisting of fresh flowers, honey, oak, fudge, and clove oil. Taste buds kick off with some beautiful intense spices and peppery notes, balanced splendidly with some toffee as we reach a long, warm, rich spicy finish.”
Taste: 7.0 – You certainly get that spice and pepper with a bit of honey. Weirdly it nearly tastes like a very strong rusty nail.
Aftertaste: 7.0 – The after tastes most carries on from the initial, albeit with some warm spices getting a a little beat as it tapers off in your throat.
Burn/Smooth: 5.5 – There is some burn here, not enough to soil things mind you. It seems the spicy and sweet could only help so far against a near 90 proof. That being said the bit you get here won’t detract, and hopefully with ice is gone altogether.
Aroma: 6.0 – You get a sweet honey like smell here, but nothing too sweet at all. Beyond that there’s some wood (presumably Oak), but if honest there’s not a big impact here aroma wise – it’s rather subdued.
Honesty: 6.5 – In fairness some of their nonsense up there is accurate in terms of honey/oak, spice/pepper, and warm spices. Of course they also throw in clove oil and if you are the kind of person who can detect clove oil when drinking whiskey you are either deluded or have some weird mental capability that us mere mortals could never possess. That said the overall text is mostly on the level, the design is audacious for sure, but that’s not so bad.
Mixability: 6.75
W/ Rocks: 6.5 – You don’t lose the burn as much (a little) but it really loses some of that pepper and spice focusing instead on a more powerful warm spiced back end. The result is nice, but if honest – it’s better neat.
Whiskey and Ginger Ale: 7.0 – It’s nice, and certainly goes down super easy. You lose a lot of the character and flavor though unless you really crank the ratios making this even more dangerous. Overall though the result still is sort of better neat.
Value: 6.0 – So we wanted to do a comparison here to Jameson, which has since risen to roughly $27 instead of $24 dollars (we’ve considered adjusting old prices, but god what a nightmare) so that makes this however a nice 5 dollars more, and if given the choice – totally. This while best neat still works just as nice on rocks or mixed. For an irish whiskey the gulf between this and the next tier down is so far that paying this much is very much a deal, albeit not by much
Google Shop Average: $32
Website: https://www.thebusker.com/
Reviewer Scores:
BuffaloJern: 6.5
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Metric Score: 44.75/70 |+| Metric Average: 6.39 |+| Reviewer Average: 6.5
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Final Thoughts: As always the high praise here comes in the simple fact that we’d buy this again, and look forward to trying other versions of it. That alone is the best subjective result we can give that regardless of a fault, price, or other reason – it’s not your bland every day thing, and comparing to it’s big rivals – you’re better off putting this in your cart.
