a sunday six pack…of whiskey?

march was expensive in many ways…

…we had the NOLA trip. and the new wheel thing. and it was march in the liquor stores. what that means is more st. patrick’s day bullshit, including a dramatically increased selection of irish whiskey. i’ve always wanted to do a monthly sampling, where i have a different whiskey every week of the month – and this time i did it, but it was pricey.

because the month started on a thursday there were technically SIX weeks in march, with the first one only being two days and the last only one. but, by god, it all still counted. so here we are:

week 1 (march 1-2) kilbeggan single grain

i decided to do more familiar ones on the shorter weeks, treating this like a concert set – start with a fan favorite, end with a well known hit sort of thing. hey, i never said it all had to be new shit – just different week to week! i first got turned on to this at the liquor store that now occupies the video store shane and i used to drunkenly rent movies at in seguin, texas. they make a cheaper one that’s weaker (only 40% abv vs the 43% here) and a more expensive one i never knew about till i googled the above image, but i really like this one. good flavor and a lil’ extra kick.

week 2 (march 3-9) teeling small batch

this one balances nicely. it’s got some kick at 46% abv but it’s aged in rum casks to it’s got some sweetness to balance it out. like a girl who has a romantic side but fucks like she might have done so professionally. not that i know about such things.

week 3 (march 10-16) proper twelve

due to it’s tie to connor mcgregor i wanted this to be good. brash and boastful, like the man that pushes it and made sure it sold well. in three words – outlet mall jameson. if there was such a thing, this would be it. not bad, but certainly nothing i’ll seek out again. i can say i’ve tried it, and some is still available on my bar at home ’cause i didn’t take more than three or four glasses out of the bottle.

week 4 (march 17-23) the sexton single malt

as i’d had a “single grain” and that swill the loud ufc guy pushes i felt a single malt was also in order. i’d had this last year when i went to do this project but never completed it so i decided to revisit. not particularly strong, but flavorful and with a really cool looking bottle, which shouldn’t mean shit but it does.

week 5 (march 24-30) old tom horan

this was a good “utility whiskey”. it could easily be a regular fixture on my bar and is available exclusively at spec’s. it’s a bit of a cheat – it’s distilled in ireland, and the casks are shipped to the states where it’s bottled and named after a houston native who was big into irish pride and sadly passed away last summer. so it’s got some irish and some texas in it and is smooth and easy drinking (40% abv) and reasonably priced (key tag special at $19.99). i’ll buy this often if it’ll have me.

week 6 (march 31) bushmills white label

rare is the day you WON’T find this on my bar at home…and it’s in the corner slot for quick and easy retrieval. my “freebird” of whiskeys – no way this wasn’t gonna be the encore. the “pepsi-coke” debate of irish whiskey will always be between bushmills and jameson. you know which side of the discussion i fall on.