Fáilte ar ais a chairde. Tá súil agam go bhfuil lá an-deas agus grianmhar ag gach duine. Welcome back. I hope all of you are doing great. This is the 5th review of this Irish Whiskey Month!☘️🇮🇪 I already reviewed the three pillars of the standard Irish Whiskeys: Tullamore D.E.W., Bushmills Original and the Jameson plus a curiosity from Hinch. Today we are taking a look at a whiskey I have already reviewed and scored once, but I think it is time to return to this bottle an re-rate it. This whiskey is non other than the Writers's Ters Double Oak.

March the 17th is Saint Patrick's Day (Lá Fhéile Pádraig) in Ireland. This day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, and by extension, celebrates the heritage and culture of the Irish in general. Many reviewers like me pays homage to Ireland and its people by reviewing Irish Whiskeys this month.

Before we go any further, please check out a few of my previous Irish Whiskey reviews.

I would also like to introduce you to my new scoring system. Yes. I reworked my socring system. I thought it was time to get away from the infalted scoring system of Whiskybase.com. I really don't like that anymore. I implemented the 1-10 scale, because it's simple and easily understandable for non-Whiskybase readers too. 5 is average. However there's nothing wrong with an average, well-priced whisky.

⏺10: Dram of a lifetime. Outstanding.

▶️ 9: A very well made, exceptional whisky. 

▶️ 8: Something great, something special.

▶️ 7: Very good. Solid.

▶️ 6: Good stuff, above average.

▶️ 5: The average, and no...not in a bad way.

▶️ 4: It's ok. Below average, but it has promise.

▶️ 3: Disappointing. Bad.

▶️ 2: Avoid.

▶️ 1: I wouldn't pay for it nor should it exist.

I will also add my score of the whisky at the beggining of the article. Why? If someone wants to only see the score to get a quick input whether they should buy the bottle or not can do it now without scrolling. I also do not want to force anyone to read the distillery history etc. I am happy if you do, however now the scores will be available at the start of the article. The tasting notes will be where they alaways were. I hope you like the changes! But now, let's get into todays review.

About Walsh Whiskey

Walsh Whiskey was established in 1999 by Bernard and Rosemary Walsh with the goal of creating the perfect drop of Irish Whiskey. They created two brands: Writers' Tears and The Irishman. Both brands offer taste profiles that are unique, through the recreation of traditional Irish whiskey recipes from the 19th Century – Ireland's golden era of whiskey distilling. While honouring the past, Bernard and Rosemary also introduce truly innovative new expressions for contemporary palates in a modern era.

Their achievments in the whiskey scene so far:

• They produced Irish whiskey's first blends of premium Pot Still & Malt whiskeys – 'the Champagne of Irish whiskey' – in the new golden age of Irish Whiskey.
• In 2008, they created Irish whiskey's first cask strength whiskey of the modern era.
• They built the largest manually operated distillery in Ireland, uniquely distilling all 3 styles of Irish whiskey under one roof.
• Crafted the world's first distillation of Organic Single Pot Still.
• Explore and introduce a range of unprecedented cask finishes
  in the Irish whiskey category. Such as Inniskillin Ice Wine cask finish.

About Writers' Tears

19th and early 20th century Ireland was a golden era both for Irish whiskey and, perhaps coincidentally, for great Irish novelists, poets and playwrights. Ireland was then the leading whiskey producing nation in the world and the birthplace of literary giants, including writers.

Writers' Tears is a tribute to some of the great Irish writers (and drinkers) of the 19th century—George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett and Bram Stoker, for example.

And like us, these writers would also drink this amazing nectar. Sometimes taking refuge in their local pub, where they could draw inspiration from their observations of daily life while enjoying the comfort of their favourite dram of whiskey.

The Irish whiskey barons were rebelling against the emergence of what they saw as inferior grain from Coffey Stills. They were protective of the traditions that had made their success possible and at that time, one whiskey style was held high above all others. Known as the 'champagne of Irish whiskey' it was a master blend of pot still and malt whiskeys, both distilled in copper pots. 

This whiskey was as I said before enjoyed by many of the writers of these times. And the legend says that they enjoyed it so much that when they cried their tears were of whiskey.

This style of whiskey was long forgotten, until Walsh Whiskey decided to launch the Writers' Tears series.

The core range of Writers' Tears consists of 5 bottles:

• Writers' Tears Copper Pot - a blend of malt & single pot still whiskey aged in Ex-Bourbon barrels, bottled at 40%
• Writers' Tears Double Oak - a blend of malt & single pot still whiskey aged in Ex-Bourbon barrels and then finished in Ex-Cognac French Oak Casks, bottled at 46%
• Writers' Tears Red Head -  single malt whiskey aged in Sherry butts, bottled at 46%
• Writers' Tears Single Pot Still - single pot still whiskey aged in ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in PX Sherry casks & Marsala casks, bottled at 46%
• Writers' Tears Cask Strength - a blend of malt & single pot still whiskey that is released every year with different parameters, usually aged in ex-bourbon and bottled at cask strength
• They also have a lot of Limited Releases such as Inniskillin Ice wine cask finish, Mizunara cask etc.

The core range - image taken from walshwhiskey.com

Writers' Tears Double Oak - Natural Color (?), Non-chill filtered, 46%

"Writers' Tears Double Oak is an exclusive Irish whiskey created using two woods and two styles of premium Irish whiskey. A blend of Single Pot Still and Single Malt Irish whiskey, aged in two types of wood – American Oak Bourbon Barrels from Kentucky and French Oak Cognac Casks from the Cognac Region in France. It is triple-distilled, non-chill filtered and bottled at 46% ABV. This expression is made possible by a close collaboration between the Walsh family in Ireland's County Carlow and the Legaret family in Cognac, France."

Nose: Starts off with loads of vanilla and caramel. Orchard fruits such as green apples, juicy pears and apricots. Christmas baking spices. White grapes, oranges and lemon peel. Lovely pot still spice and wood notes. A mix of floral scents and freshly cut grass. Some cinnamon and cardamom. Quite complex and deep with multiple layers of goodness. Lovely.

Taste: Alrighty. Quite oily and thick. The 46% abv. is lovely. Mouth-coating. Quite fresh and sweet. Freshly picked jonathan apples, william pears and apricots. White grapes, seville oranges and baking spices. Lots of pot still spice kicks in alongside some cracked black pepper and a hint of damp oak. French toast and roasted coffee. This is nice. Multi layered. Complex.

Finish: Long and dry. It starts of sweet with vanilla, fersh orchard fruits, grapes and oranges. However the pot still spice kicks in with black pepper and some oak and gets quite dry. Roasted coffee, dark chocolate and cinnamon.

Overall this whiskey is very nice in my opinion. I rated it lower before but now I will rate it higher. I like it much more this time around. This is why it is nice to revisit whiskeys every now and then. Our taste might have changed, our perspective of whiskey and whatnot. This whiskey is a great choice, it has a nice complexity with a lovely amount of pot still spice and oak. I rate this 7.4/10. Try it. Buy it. Drink responsibly.

Some pictures in this article are not owned by me, I tagged their owner and I attached a link of their site. All other pictures that have my logo on them are TAKEN AND OWNED BY ME.

Check out the points on all the whiskies I've rated and ranked head-to-head.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. To many more. Sláinte.

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