It doesn't quite match the pure elegance of the sherried-not-sherried youngin', but it's deeper and tastier than the one one that was about half its age. It's a solid whiskey which we'll dig deeper into it in the Irish whiskey review below!
Trader Joe's 15 Years Old Irish Single Malt Review: Details and Tasting Notes
In Trader Joe's Words: Trader Joe's 15 Years Old Irish Single Malt
Trader Joe's Single Malt Irish Whiskey comes from an Irish whiskey-making family dedicated to crafting high quality whiskey since the 18th century. Their focus is on restoring the ancient distilling techniques of Irish Whiskey.
Made with fresh Irish spring water and locally harvested barley, this whiskey is triple distilled in small, copper pot stills. The whiskey is matured a minimum of 15 years in single-use, American white oak casks.
Trader Joe's 15 Years Old Irish Single Malt Review: Details (price, mash bill, cask type, ABV, etc.)
Region: Ireland
Distiller: Unknown (guessing Bushmills)
Bottler: Trader Joe's
Mash Bill: 100% Malted Barley
Cask: First Fill ex-Bourbon
Age: 15 Years
ABV: 40%
Price: $34
Trader Joe's 15 Years Old Irish Single Malt Review: Tasting Notes
NOSE
Passion fruit, complex orchard fruit, malt, copper, citrus, honey and bits of vanilla taffy, oily spice and a touch floral.
PALATE
Copper, malt, passion fruit, orchard fruit, malt, spice and a bit of buttery toffee.
FINISH
Long -> Copper, malt, passion fruit and buttery toffee.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Good sense of balance, medium body and a light soft feel.
Trader Joe's 15 Years Old Irish Single Malt Review: Overall and Score
I almost want to call the texture of the Trader Joe's 15 Years Old Irish Single Malt elegant. It's like a light syrup/light oil kind of a feel; silken, but a tad watery, it's really interesting. The nose is spectacular with the complex fruit presentation and coppery, dry malty underpinning. The palate brings the copper and dry malt to the forefront and pushes the fruit back a row or two and is enjoyable... but that nose.
Overall this whiskey is really good, but I wish wish wish it was at a higher proof and non-chill filtered. This is a good whiskey that shows the potential for a lot of depth if they had messed with it less - like even 46% and NCF - it would likely be a whiskey so cracking good I'd have bought a case. As it is, it's good enough, and priced low enough, that I bought two. Grab it while you can.
SCORE: 85/100 (B)
