STG Erin Go Bragh Irish Whiskey
Jan 10, 2019 14:16:51 GMT -5
antb, sperrytops, and 10 more like this
Post by atison on Jan 10, 2019 14:16:51 GMT -5
I got this pouch in the same shipment that the Borkham Riff Bourbon Whiskey came in and if you read that review you know that I didn't think to highly of it. So, to say I have been a little hesitant to give the Erin Go Bragh a try is an understatement especially with all the other blends I have in my rotation and yet to try.
A bit of a side story on me and whisky(ey). I am a big whisky fan no matter how you spell it or what region it comes from. From bourbon to scotch to irish to canadian, I am in love with the brown spirits. Like pipe tobacco there is so many ways this great liquid can be presented to your pallet. Bourbon probably makes up the bulk volume wise of what I drink followed closely by scotch (primarily Laphroiag), but I do like to pick up a bottle of irish from time to time. Tullamore Dew, bushmills or jameson all do the trick for me. Irish whisky is good in that it delivers a clean/crisp flavor that doesn't linger on the pallet the way bourbon or a heavy peated scotch does.
I bring this up because irish whisky has a distinct flavor seperating it from bourbon and scotch that will come back in the review. I don't have a word for it other than "twang". Irish whisky has a twang taste to it that presents itself as a bright note that for me sits right in between sweet and tart. Its funny because it is different than if you took something sour and added sugar to it. In that case you would taste both the sweet and the sour at the same time. This is different. It is as if you averaged the two. Not sure if that makes sense, but it does in my head so we will move on.
The pouch came slightly moist with a light scent of the whisky topping and a good backbone of base tobacco. Ribbons of varying colors that fell apart easily after pinching together making me think it was a candidate to pack right up and light. And it turned out to be just that. Packing and lighting were easy and after a char and tamp it fired up and chugged along with no relights. Actually it may of needed a little firmer packing as it tended to burn rather quickly producing more smoke volume than I am used to and forced me to slow down more than average. Nothing of this took away from the enjoyment though so chalk that up.
From the get go the flavors were up my alley. Core of Virginia, Burley and Cavendish all melding their natural sweet/nutty notes together. A few puffs in and the light whisky topping started to fire off and I was greeted with some noticeable notes of grain and oak. The "twang" I noted before showed the lightest of presence throughout the bowl to just let me know that this was the irish varietal of whisky playing in here. Worked my way through the bowl and didn't want it to end. Never tasted artificial or overly topped throughout the bowl.
I like to have a couple fingers of whisky with a pipe from time to time as they can compliment each other well. When I went looking for a whisky topped blend my full intention was to find something that mirrored that experience without having to actually drink whisky with it. Erin go Bragh did a fine job of that and may have me question drinking whisky with a pipe at all versus going to this. Whisky tends to cover up a lot of the nuances of pipe tobacco. With Erin go Bragh they are allowed to present themselves side by side much nicer.
Now for the beard note. Even though one of the things I like about irish whisky is its non lingering flavors, sometimes I want that "twang" to hang around a little longer. The beard note on Erin go Bragh did just that. What was left to enjoy (with a quick whiff of the stach) was a slight virginia sweetness and that great irish "twang".
I am a fan of this one. It will fill a spot for my occasional desires for an irish whisky, which I will admit isn't all the time, but it could increase that frequency too.
A bit of a side story on me and whisky(ey). I am a big whisky fan no matter how you spell it or what region it comes from. From bourbon to scotch to irish to canadian, I am in love with the brown spirits. Like pipe tobacco there is so many ways this great liquid can be presented to your pallet. Bourbon probably makes up the bulk volume wise of what I drink followed closely by scotch (primarily Laphroiag), but I do like to pick up a bottle of irish from time to time. Tullamore Dew, bushmills or jameson all do the trick for me. Irish whisky is good in that it delivers a clean/crisp flavor that doesn't linger on the pallet the way bourbon or a heavy peated scotch does.
I bring this up because irish whisky has a distinct flavor seperating it from bourbon and scotch that will come back in the review. I don't have a word for it other than "twang". Irish whisky has a twang taste to it that presents itself as a bright note that for me sits right in between sweet and tart. Its funny because it is different than if you took something sour and added sugar to it. In that case you would taste both the sweet and the sour at the same time. This is different. It is as if you averaged the two. Not sure if that makes sense, but it does in my head so we will move on.
The pouch came slightly moist with a light scent of the whisky topping and a good backbone of base tobacco. Ribbons of varying colors that fell apart easily after pinching together making me think it was a candidate to pack right up and light. And it turned out to be just that. Packing and lighting were easy and after a char and tamp it fired up and chugged along with no relights. Actually it may of needed a little firmer packing as it tended to burn rather quickly producing more smoke volume than I am used to and forced me to slow down more than average. Nothing of this took away from the enjoyment though so chalk that up.
From the get go the flavors were up my alley. Core of Virginia, Burley and Cavendish all melding their natural sweet/nutty notes together. A few puffs in and the light whisky topping started to fire off and I was greeted with some noticeable notes of grain and oak. The "twang" I noted before showed the lightest of presence throughout the bowl to just let me know that this was the irish varietal of whisky playing in here. Worked my way through the bowl and didn't want it to end. Never tasted artificial or overly topped throughout the bowl.
I like to have a couple fingers of whisky with a pipe from time to time as they can compliment each other well. When I went looking for a whisky topped blend my full intention was to find something that mirrored that experience without having to actually drink whisky with it. Erin go Bragh did a fine job of that and may have me question drinking whisky with a pipe at all versus going to this. Whisky tends to cover up a lot of the nuances of pipe tobacco. With Erin go Bragh they are allowed to present themselves side by side much nicer.
Now for the beard note. Even though one of the things I like about irish whisky is its non lingering flavors, sometimes I want that "twang" to hang around a little longer. The beard note on Erin go Bragh did just that. What was left to enjoy (with a quick whiff of the stach) was a slight virginia sweetness and that great irish "twang".
I am a fan of this one. It will fill a spot for my occasional desires for an irish whisky, which I will admit isn't all the time, but it could increase that frequency too.
