Kilbeggan Blended Irish Whiskey is named after the Kilbeggan Distillery whose license to distill dates back to 1757. From what I’ve read the distillery seems to have continued producing fairly uninterrupted until it was closed down in 1957. In 1983 the community in Kilbeggan restored the building and equipment the best they could and turned it into a distilling museum.
The Teeling family (owners of Cooley) bought the license and the museum in 1987. By 2007 the Teelings had restored the distillery and began producing whiskey inside the Kilbeggan distillery one again using a pot still that dates back to the 1800s (the oldest working pot still in the world). The distillery became fully operational in 2010 and the first Kilbeggan made whiskey rolled out in 2014, but from what I gather a good amount of the whiskey is still made at Cooley due to the limited size of Kilbeggan.
Kilbeggan Blended Irish Whiskey Info
Region: Westmeath, Ireland
Distiller: Kilbeggan
Age: NAS
ABV: 40%
Price: $29
Kilbeggan Blended Irish Whiskey Review
EYE
Dark yellow
NOSE
Honey, fruit, vanilla and malt combine with light notes of caramel, spice and a candy like sweetness. A faint undertone of brownsugar and citrus glides through the whole aroma.
PALATE
Sweet malty caramel and vanilla with the grain whiskey making a bold statement. Light raw woody and dirty citrus notes play about with a bit of dark dustiness coming in right before the finish.
FINISH
Medium and dry with notes of wood, caramel, grain whisky and a sugary sweetness.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
A bit off balance. A medium body and a lackluster uninteresting feel.
OVERALL
All-in-all I feel rather meh about the Kilbeggan Blended Irish Whiskey. It’s something that I’m not really dying to have again, but would make a great mixer in certain Irish whiskey cocktails. The nose is the only thing that saved it from the mid 70s and did so only barely. I do want to try more of the Kilbeggan whiskies and curious to see how they compare to this, the entry point blend.
SCORE: 77/100
