Update Thursday, Nov 27: The Connemara is now available in the Celtic Whiskey Shop (thanks, Michael!). It's €84.99, 46%, non-chill filtered, distilled in 1995 and bottled last month. It also gets an early thumbs up from brockagh in the comments below.

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It's late November but the year ain't over yet. We are still waiting for the final two releases of 2008.

One is the cask strength version of The Irishman 70 that I wrote about back in June. The Irishman 70 is a unique combination of malt and pure pot still whiskeys. The Cask Strength, bottled at 56% ABV, will be a vintage release of no more than 1,400 bottles.

I'm told it will be in Dublin airport in two weeks' time, and it should appear in the Celtic Whiskey Shop in the week before Christmas. One for the last minute gift buyers then!

The other whiskey is the single cask Sherried Connemara. This will be a once off release but there is a good chance we will see a non-single cask limited edition Sherried Connemara next year.

There has been some hold-up with the labels for the Connemara but Cooley still hopes we will see it before Christmas.

A new whiskey shop opened in Dublin last week. Or rather an old shop is newly selling whiskey. JJ Fox on Grafton Street, a fifth generation family business, has just refurbished its cigar store and added a substantial line in whiskey alongside the cubans (and the roscommons?!).

I'll just include the rest of the press release because it's full of interesting detail:

Providing Ireland's connoisseurs with the finer things in life since 1881, James Fox, has an extensive selection of cigars sourced from all around the world, from Cuba to Ballaghaderreen in Co. Roscommon. The store has now invested in a full licence to launch its new range of over 150 handcrafted Irish and Scotch malt whiskeys, cognacs and rums.

"We have invested substantially in the business by redesigning and refurbishing the store. As the 5th generation of the Fox family to be involved in running the business it is a very proud occasion for me," said Rob Fox speaking at the launch.

"When retail brands from around the world like Tommy Hilfiger, Ted Baker and Hugo Boss flock to Grafton Street, I am very proud to be part of the unique James Fox retail brand. This store is the ancestral home of the entire Fox family business, which now has retail stores in London's St James Street, in Harrods of Knightsbridge and Selfridges of Oxford Street," said David McGrane, managing director, who has worked with the company since 1971.

James Fox has also revamped its wine portfolio. In a tribute to the Irish entrepreneurial spirit, James Fox now sells wines exclusively sourced from wine producers of Irish origin "The Irish Wine Geese".

The collection of over 80 wines includes Irish family names Barton, Lynch and Phelan of the now famous 18th century exodus from Ireland, and a more recent group of Irish wine producers with wines from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, California and Portugal.

This hasn't suddenly become Scotch Whisky Notes but I would like to acknowledge a great evening on Thursday, hosted by the Celtic Whiskey Shop and James Bateman of Morrison Bowmore Distillers.

In the very salubrious surroundings of the Fitzwilliam Hotel, we were introduced to four Auchentoshans (12yo, Three Wood, 18yo, 21yo), two Glen Gariochs (15yo, 21yo) and two Bowmores (18yo, 25yo).

The standout dram (I finally get to say 'dram' because I'm talking about Scotch!) for me was Bowmore 25yo. This was somewhat of a surprise to me because I'm not a huge fan of peat in whiskey. Bowmore is not heavily peated but it's still a bit prominent in the 18yo for my liking. Remarkably though, the extra 7 years in wood of the 25yo had completely tamed the tang of bog, incorporating it into a lovely, balanced, complex taste where neither the wood nor the peat was prominent.

Sadly, the Bowmore goes for €250 in this country so I won't be having it again soon. My second favourite of the night was the Glen Garioch 15yo. I get the impression this distillery is a little overlooked among the superstars of Scottish distilleries. But I found it interesting enough to warrant a further visit. At €50 a bottle, that's quite achievable. Glen Garioch 15yo is unpeated, incidentally. That wasn't always the case, and it's not true of the 21yo but all the younger whiskies from that distillery are peat-free.

I wasn't entirely truthful when I said my favourite dram of the night was the Bowmore 25yo. James had brought a surprise for us... a bottle of the legendary White Bowmore. This is a vatting of just five ex-bourbon casks filled in 1964 and aged for 43 years. A bottle in Ireland (the only bottle for sale in Ireland) goes for €3,500!

Well, this was magnificent. An unmistakeable nose of tropical fruits (pineapple, passion fruit, papaya) and a lush, smooth, complex palate that defies my powers of description, though the fruit was definitely there again. And finally, a long, smooth fade without the woodiness or dryness that often mars a good drink.

It will no doubt be a long time before I get to taste such a fine whisky again, if ever. I must thank James Bateman for parting with his bottle, and for introducing us to a fine selection of his other whiskies, and the Celtic Whiskey Shop for hosting yet another great evening.

John Hansell recently alluded to a new relationship between Cooley distillery and Tullamore Dew. There is a bit more to this amazing story, however. Since the cat is out the bag, I'll add what I know...

Tullamore Dew is the number two Irish whiskey internationally. The brand is owned by C&C but manufactured by Irish Distillers (IDL), owners of the number one Irish whiskey, Jameson. A few years ago, C&C hired Barry Walsh, recently retired master blender from IDL to create some new whiskeys with Cooley.

The result of that collaboration was some ten year old "finished" single malts (ie the whiskey spent the last few months of its maturation in a different type of cask). But C&C changed its mind and abandoned the project before it went to market.

Cooley went ahead and released the whiskeys as Tyrconnell and we know them as the 10yo port, sherry and madeira finishes. Wonderful whiskeys they are too.

Since then, C&C has reconsidered and is now going ahead with their new malts. As I say, we have seen these whiskeys already but John Hansell mentions a plain 10yo malt which would be new.

I have to believe this has something to do with C&C's recent troubles. They sold off their soft drink and snack food interests and placed a big bet on cider that didn't pan out. The CEO fell on his sword recently after a poor financial year.

All through the cider adventure, Tullamore Dew was a solid performer and it doesn't surprise me that it's now getting renewed attention. While undoubtedly a successful brand, it has long been a commodity whiskey and no attempt has been made to exploit its famous and venerable name at the higher end.

While the new whiskeys won't share any DNA with the standard Tullamore Dew, it must be a risk relying on your biggest competitor to make your product so diversifying suppliers makes sense.

I hope the Cooley project works out. The original Tullamore Dew distillery closed 50 years ago and cannot be revived. The large copper pot stills, however, were picked up by Cooley and are now standing idle at the historic Kilbeggan distillery. Cooley doesn't have the resources to fire them up. C&C, on the other hand, has a healthy cash flow from its whiskey sales... C'mon guys, brew up some original Tullamore Dew!

The new Midleton Single Cask, exclusive to the Celtic Whiskey Shop, has arrived and is now on sale. Only 288 bottles were produced so I don't expect it to last long.

Like standard Midleton, it's a blend of pure pot still and grain whiskeys and matured in ex-bourbon wood. The twist here is that the constituent spirits were married immediately after distillation and aged together in the one cask. Somehow the Celtic Whiskey Shop got its hands on cask 95991 of the stuff ("after 5 years of pestering and pleading", as they say themselves) and they have bottled it at 46% ABV, another welcome enhancement on the usual 40% of Midleton Very Rare. No doubt this contributes to the far richer taste compared to the standard bottling.

These tasting notes come from Alastair Higgins of the Celtic Whiskey Shop

nose: Aromas of roasted nuts, fruit cake, fondant icing and ginger snaps with some delicate fruit characters.
palate: The flavours are warming and mouth coating with spice, ginger and apricot to the fore. This evolves into lemony, fruity notes with hints of pineapple, honey and white grapes.
finish: Long, complex and smooth on the finish.

I've tried it myself, though not under laboratory conditions, and it's wonderful. Definitely a candidate for best Irish whiskey, though I'd need a bottle to decide properly! It might seem expensive at €200 but standard Midleton is €150 and not nearly so impressive or exclusive.

On a side note, it's interesting to speculate what Irish Distillers was up to when they casked this whiskey. Was it an experiment or do they have serious production quantities intended for their other blends? I have no idea but the fact that they haven't revealed the whiskey's age (a standard item of information for a single cask bottling) makes me wonder if there is a story here.

The Buena Vista café in San Francisco pulled off its bid yesterday to supersize its famous Irish coffee. 10 litres of Irish whiskey, 10 gallons of coffee, a gallon of heavy cream and 4 pounds of sugar, all in a 12-gallon, 3-foot high glass!

From yumsugar's account it sounds like there was a great atmosphere in the place, and I'm sure there was no shortage of volunteers to help empty the glass when the world record had been secured. Check out yumsugar's site for lots of photos from the big event.

The General Manager of the Buena Vista, Michael Carden, was kind enough to answer my question about the exact variety of whiskey used at the café:

Actually, it is the standard Tullamore Dew with a special label stating it is the official whiskey of the Buena Vista.

In the early years of the Irish Coffee Tullamore Dew was the choice of the day. Then Irish Distillers produced a special blend and label for the Buena Vista which we served for years. In 2003 (I think) we moved to Cooley Distilleries for a Buena Vista blend. And last year returned to Tullamore Dew.

The Celtic Whiskey Shop is hosting another tasting. Auchentoshan this time, though there is a good chance that whiskies from sister distilleries, Glen Garioch and Bowmore, will make an appearance too.

Auchentoshan Whisky Tasting
18:30, Thursday, 20th November
Fitzwilliam Hotel, St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2

Our next whisky masterclass will be a tasting of the new Auchentoshan Single Malt range. Auchentoshan is an unpeated, triple distilled single malt from just outside Glasgow in the Scottish Lowlands.

Tickets are €22.50, limited and must be purchased in advance. The tasting will be hosted by James Bateman from Morrison Bowmore Distillers.

I'm looking through the Celtic Whiskey Shop's Christmas catalogue, released today. There are some exciting new whiskeys alongside the return of some old favourites.

Pride of place goes to the new single cask Midleton. This is exclusive to the CWS and limited to only 300 bottles. I hope to say more about this soon so I'll just mention that I've sampled it and it's far richer on the palate than the standard Midleton. A definite winner. The last I checked, it was expected in the shop in about two weeks' time.

The Redbreast 15yo is there, as I've already mentioned (I haven't heard of it available cheaper anywhere else in Ireland, though it's also on sale in the Midleton distillery shop).

Well regarded, though not to my own taste, is Cooley's peated whiskey, Connemara. Of special interest here is the latest 1992 single cask and a 13yo Sherry finish.

The Greenore 8yo single grain is still a bargain and nicer than the 15yo version, in my opinion.

The Tyrconnell finishes are back. The 10yo Madeira finish always gets pushed to the fore because Jim Murray's Whiskey Bible rated it a 95. It is a lovely whiskey but, for me, the port finish just edges it. The Tyrconnell 15yo single cask is also available and I'm currently trying to decide whether this is or the port finish is my favourite Irish whiskey.

I commend the rest of the brochure to your attention. It has lots of nice pictures and looks very Christmassy. And of course there is much I haven't mentioned, like Jameson, Bushmills, The Irishman, Bourbons, Scotches and plenty more.

Jameson sales continue to climb

Every time I report financial results from Pernod-Ricard it's the same positive story for Jameson. This time, first quarter results show volume up 10% and sales up 17%. (And, once again, it's hard to avoid the obvious implication that we are paying more for our whiskey.)

Treasure Island

I spotted an interesting story on Daniel Westman's Tales of Treasure:

In 1763 a ship was on its way from Ireland to New Orleans, on board was 160 barrels of fine Irish whiskey. When the schooner passed by St. George Island it was caught in a hurricane and was smashed against the island. The captain and crew of the ship buried the whiskey kegs in a large pit back from the beach on the eastern end of the island.

The crew never returned to dig up their cargo.

It's too much to expect that the barrels have lasted intact for this length of time but I find it fascinating that this country was exporting whiskey across the Atlantic almost 250 years ago. I also wonder which distillery the spirit came from. It's too early for Bushmills or Jameson (though the Jameson distillery was already in operation when John Jameson bought it in 1780). Locke's Distillery (est. 1757) is just about possible. No doubt there are plenty of other candidates.

Mad whiskey drinkers

Gawker revealed that the audience for Mad Men, a drama set in a New York ad agency in the earl 1960s, is 47 times more likely to drink Irish whiskey than the general population. Scotch, bourbon and Canadian don't come close.

I've no idea what this means. Nor have I ever seen an episode, but I feel I might be missing out.

World's largest Irish coffee

The Buena Vista Café in San Franciso, which claims to have introduced the Irish coffee to America back in 1952, will mix up the world's largest Irish coffee on November 10th.

What also caught my eye was a line from an online article: "The Buena Vista will be releasing the first shipment of Tullamore Dew Official Buena Vista Irish Whiskey". I don't know if this is a special blend for the café or just a relabeled standard issue Dew but I'll try to find out.

There was a minor hoo-hah a few years ago when the Buena Vista started using Tullamore Dew instead of a private blend from Cooley. So it's interesting if they are returning to a proprietary bottling. Certainly their volumes justify it: they were getting through 18,720 litres of the stuff yearly back in 2006.

Peaty cocktails

I've written before about Michael Foggarty's Connemara whiskey-based cocktail. It's not often you find peat in a cocktail but I've just come across another, at the Dylan Bar, in Dublin.

The "Smoked Mapletini" (€18.00) contains Connemara 12yo, apricot brandy, maple syrup and fresh oranges. The bar menu has a very decent Irish whiskey menu but it isn't cheap due to its setting within a seriously hip hotel.