Mad March Hare Poitin is the latest extension of Ireland’s native spirit which was re-legalised in 1997 after being illegal for over 300 years (1661). If you’re not familiar with poitin it’s essentially Irish moonshine. It’s an un-aged spirit that people would drink straight off the still and like American moonshine it enjoys a long and storied history. Also like Moonshine it’s become quite fashionable recently.
In Mad March Hare’s Words: Mad March Hare Poitin
“Mad March Hare uses only the best, locally sourced, malted barley. As you would expect, fine Irish Poitín needs fine ingredients and most of our suppliers are farmers within a couple of miles of our stills, with equally rich histories in the growing of the this key ingredient. As one would expect, their covert deliveries are made in the dead of night.”
Yes I know “Moonshine” should only be applied to illegal American hooch, but a quick glance at liquor store shelves show that term has been adopted into mainstream usage and is essentially another word for New Make or White Dog. I have no doubt there are purists in Ireland who say the same about Poitin, but this is the world we live in and it includes a bottled new make called Mad March Hare Poitin which we’re going to review right now.
Mad March Hare Poitin Info
Region: Ireland
Distiller: Mad March Hare
Mashbill: 100% Malted Barley
Cask: none
Age: 0
ABV: 40%
Natural Color
Price: $25
Mad March Hare Poitin Review
EYE
Clear
NOSE
It smells sugary sweet with a bit of lemon, lime, blueberries and honey candy. The sweetness is cloying and it reminds me of something from my youth… having a hard time putting my finger on it.
PALATE
Sweet with that lemon/lime citrus quality dominating and that’s when it hit me, this tastes like Sprite syrup. The concentrated syrup that gets hooked up to soda machines. It reminds me of working at the movie theater in my teens during which I tried all of the soda pops in raw syrup form at least twice while working there. Any ways, there’s a wee bit of dried berries, grain and a bit of something petrol-like as well.
FINISH
Medium fade of Sprite syrup and grain.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
No balance and thick body with a syrupy feel.
OVERALL
The Mad March Hare Poitin is ok as far as poitins go. It’s not disgusting, but it’s far from good and it’s so sweetly cloying I feel like I’m drinking raw Sprite syrup and that’s not overly interesting to me. If this is your kind of thing then fine, enjoy it, but it’s quite far from being mine. New make in general just isn’t something that interests me too much lately.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun to see where the whisk(e)y starts, but outside of being a piece of education it’s not something I want to drink and I here I have a whole bottle of it. So I did the only logical thing given the situation.
A few months ago I was sent a set of those worthless aging sticks that add a bit more color to your whiskey but do little else so I figured “why not”. I blew the dust off of one, dropped it in and waited an hour before snapping the photo on the left and then waited the suggested minimum 24 hours before snapping the one on the right. Like I said above all it did was add some color and the merest hint of some “wood” flavor.
Though is 24 hours really good enough? I don’t think so and I feel like I was doing this whole experiment a disservice. So I did the next most logical thing and put it in the back of the top shelf of my liquor rack next to my bottle of TWJ’s Finest Old Rare Double Stick Aged Whiksey. This stick enhanced version of Mad March Hare Poitin will quietly age in this prominent location for a year and we’ll check in on it next March.
SCORE: 70/100 (C-)
