We all know (or maybe not) that all spirits are filtered (unless rarely as otherwise noted) and that usually this filtering goes through charcoal. Now one would think that said charcoal filtering doesn’t really go into the product, and it’s not like your barbeque variety coal is what’s used. At least that’s supposed to be the way, but here it’s suspect.
Honestly, this single malt could have been nice, but it is ruined like a midday spring breeze from a diesel truck. We wish we could say nice things here, but there’s a big black lump in the middle of the room, and it’s ruined everything it touches.
What they Say: “West Cork Single Malt is handcrafted using the finest hand selected ingredients and patiently matured in bourbon casks for 10 years to deliver a very special and rare Irish whiskey. Its outstanding quality promises to deliver a truly special drinking experience cherished by all.”
Taste: 6.5 – There’s some sweetness, a little heat, some nice malt, a bit of bourbon flavor, but it leads into doom.
Aftertaste: 2.5 – There’s a peat-like flavor, smoke, and just a bit too much charcoal. It’s so close to being stellar, but that coal running whiskey taste ruins it.
Burn/Smooth: 6.5 – Despite the above (or if you know about filtering possibly because of) it’s actually fairly smooth to drink with little burn.
Aroma: 7.0 – It smells a bit more full than a lighter Irish whiskey, but the fact is – it smells great.
Honesty: 6.0 – That’s not SO bad. The bottle using the Irish isle below the banner is a cute look, and there’s not a lot of crimes here. Overall fairly well done, but not enough effort to earn points.
Mixability: 4.5
W/ Rocks: 3.0 – The issue here is that the charcoal despite the ice, shines through.
Whiskey and Ginger Ale: 6.0 – It’s an okay whiskey and ginger ale, and it thankfully removes the charcoal taste.
Value: 3.0 – That’s a lot to pay for something you’d only use to season barbeque or suffer through some ginger ale for.
Google Shop Average: $36
Website: http://www.westcorkdistillers.com/
Reviewer Scores:
BuffaloJern: 4.0
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Metric Score: 42.5/70 |+| Metric Average: 6.07 |+| Reviewer Average: 4.0
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Final Thoughts: Objectively it’s easy to say this isn’t a bad whiskey, but it’s no place in our bar or our hearts. It does make sense for us to try others of the line though and see if this is the pattern, or just a bad one off at only 10 years of age.
