Redbreast 12 yr Single Pot Still Whiskey 750ml

Redbreast traces its roots to the early 1900s, when the Dublin wine and spirits merchant Gilbey's began bottling whiskey distilled at Jameson's Bow Street Distillery, naming the brand after the robin redbreast in a nod to the chairman's love of birds. The turbulence of the early 20th century, including war, prohibition, and trade disputes with Britain, nearly ended the brand, and Gilbey's eventually stopped production altogether in 1986. Irish Distillers acquired the label and revived it in 1991 as a dedicated premium single pot still expression, and today it is produced at the Midleton Distillery in County Cork under that same company, now a subsidiary of Pernod Ricard.

Redbreast 12 Year Old is distilled from a mash of malted and unmalted barley, the defining feature of the single pot still style, and passed through copper pot stills three times in the traditional Irish manner. The spirit then spends twelve years maturing in a combination of ex-bourbon American oak barrels and ex-Oloroso sherry Spanish oak butts, a pairing that builds the brand's signature depth. It is bottled at 40% ABV without chill filtration, preserving the fuller, oilier texture that has made it one of the best-selling whiskeys in its category worldwide.

The nose leads with toasted malt, golden raisins, and a faint waft of baking spice, opening into a full, creamy palate of ginger, ripe orchard fruit, toffee, and toasted oak. A gentle sherried sweetness runs underneath it all, and the finish stretches on with notes of cinnamon and marzipan. That richness holds up well in a whiskey highball or a boulevardier, and it also makes an excellent base for a spiced hot toddy.