EDIT: I misheard. It was a Cooley.

Hi all, just had a dram of this Irish 16yo IB bottled for The Writing Club, a small bar in Singapore with a focused selection with mostly IBs and single casks, quite akin to more familiar names such as The Auld Alliance or Quaich Bar. Though it is undisclosed on the bottle, I was told this is a Cooley - triple-distilled of course - aged for 16 years in a bourbon barrel. The incredibly light colour belies an incredible tropical flavour bomb. No, you won't get the concentrated flavour of 50%++ ABV, but at 47.6% (IIRC cask strength but don't quote me on this) it's really good. My first Irish and what a way to start.

Distillery: Cooley

Region: Irish

Price: $14/45ml

Cask Type: Ex-bourbon single barrel

ABV: 47.6%

Chill-filtered: No

Color: 0.1, white wine (natural colour).

Rested ~15 minutes before drunk neat in a glencairn.

Nose: White chocolate, cake frosting, bread pudding studded with raisins.

Palate: Salty lychee, tempura batter, rice crackers, sunbeaten grass, and peach cream. Delicate and supple texture with the triple distillation, not thin or watery though. Sweetness becomes more pronounced with more time.

Finish: Banana, grapefruit, peaches, custard, caramel, tempura pumpkin and shiso, short-medium but still very well-resolved

Conclusion: Incredible complexity and balance. Just two quibbles: a bit more concentrated flavour within the same profile, a bit less initial salty hit would be nice. It is not rich, but it does not really need to be. A finish that is not supremely long, but still great because everything can be so readily resolved. This is not a whisky where notes need to linger to pick them out. Just very well-sorted and easy to drink, yet incredibly satisfying. I keep on returning to the relatively unusual notes like lychee, white chocolate, tempura batter and pumpkin. BTW, the lightest-coloured whisky I have ever drank, probably due to the bourbon cask and triple distillation.

If it were named by the SMWS: Tropic Tempura

Score: 90

World Whisky Review #2, Whisky Network Review #14

H.Y.