Gold Spot 9 Year Old 135th Anniversary

Gold Spot 9 Year Old 135th Anniversary

Region: Ireland

ABV: 51.4%

Price: £110.00

A limited edition release to celebrate the 135th anniversary of the Mitchell family's entry to the whiskey industry. Gold Spot spent at least nine years maturing in a combination of bourbon barrels, sherry butts, Bordeaux wine casks, and Port pipes.

Nose

The nose opens with a mixture of fruits such as mango, and green apple. Following on from that there’s some brown vinegar, prunes, cold butter and vanilla essence. Giving it time and air reveals a hint of freshly baked croissants and light spice. There’s also more fruit it’s just synthetic now and reminds us of foam bananas. Sitting in the background there’s a touch of alcohol that gives away that the dram is on the younger side.

Palate

We’re initially hit by some caramel syrup which turns into a treacle flavour. There’s then some Red Cola, fruit pastels, chocolate coins, and pink grapefruit. The bitterness of the grapefruit remains after the sweetness fades, and we’re finding it slightly off putting. It’s got a good mouthfeel, but has a little too much of an alcohol bite for our tastes. Going back to it and we really notice the spice in the form of cinnamon and cardamom.

Nose (with water)

There’s more of the bourbon cask influence now in the form of some strawberries and cream along with more chocolate. The water has removed the alcohol and vinegar notes, but also dulled some of the fruit. The caramel notes are less intense now more like caramel ice cream.

Palate (with water)

Unlike the nose, sherry is now more noticeable with some dark chocolate and coffee appearing on the palate. There’s a better balance to this with water as the alcohol bite is more manageable, and the bitter note on the finish has morphed into burnt coffee. The cinnamon spice is still there, but it’s more in balance and is now more like a cinnamon bun. Like the nose, some of the more fruity notes have dispersed.

Conclusion

We don’t drink a huge amount of Irish whiskey, but always enjoy the opportunity to try something a little bit different. Personally, we prefer the Blue Spot we reviewed previously, but this is still a solid dram. It is however a little too expensive, as blue spot was sold for only £75.

Score: 7.5/10

• 10 - Perfection. A whisky that we’ll remember forever.
• 9 - Amazing. We’d pay through the nose for a bottle.
• 8 - Great. Pick this up at RRP.
• 7 - Good. Happy to have a dram or two but wouldn’t buy a bottle.
• 6 - Passable. Would accept a dram, but wouldn’t seek it out.
• 5 - Poor. Would drink if it was the only option.
• 4 - Bad. Maybe it can be saved by ginger beer?
• 3 - Awful. It can't be saved by ginger beer.
• 2 - Pour it out
• 1 - We’ve never tried a whisky rated this low and hopefully never will.

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