Review by: TOModera
We’ve all been there. You walk into a small town bar, with old friends, and you look at the alcohol selection and grimace. It’s a beer town, and maybe you don’t drink beer. Or it’s a wine town and you don’t drink wine. Or it’s a cocktail bar and they have so many coloured bottles your head spins just thinking about having their signature cocktail.
However the waitress is nice, the company is great, and the food is well made. They have the game on the wall, telling you that Canada isn’t going to be signing as many people as Finland is, and you’re having a great time.
So you do the Dew. Tullamore Dew Original, that is, because it’s that or Johnnie Walker Red or something else that’s been around. It was an Irish pub, I felt like Irish.
Tullamore Dew is a Blended Irish whisky. The owners bring out Glenfiddich, Balvenie, Grant’s and Monkey Shoulder. It’s made up of Jameson, Powers, Paddy, and pretty much anyone else who distills anything for Irish Distillers.
Note that Tullamore Dew, as a whole, used to be nothing but copper pot still, however in the last couple of years it was changed to a blend. And also good news, they’ve brought back a new distillery to Tullamore, and plan on bringing out pot-still and malt whiskey for Tullamore.
So this may end up a rare breed (no, no it won’t).
Distillery: Tullamore Dew (Midleton) Distillery.
Bottler: Distillery Bottling Company.
Region: Ireland.
ABV: 40%.
Age: Unknown.
Cask type: Unknown.
Price: $32.45 (CAD).
Color: Dog piss
And that description comes from a close friend who used to buy the stuff, so you know it’s authentic
Nose: Lemon, yeast, orange, alcohol, light cumin, pepper
Faint, typical Irish smells of lemon and yeast. Nothing really crazy going on here, quite a bit of burn telling me this is meant to be mixed, and probably not poured at 2 oz (5 cl) for $5, but oh well, it’s the dead of winter, and the waitress is super nice and great, who am I to complain.
Taste: Sweet corn, old bread, lemon pepper, brown butter
Now that I’ve tasted it, I’m the one who gets to complain. It’s again, quite faint, and has some flavours that register in my head as warnings that what I’m eating or drinking has gone bad, and as a mammal I should watch out.
The brown butter that eventually comes out is nice though. Still too much citrus and yeast.
Finish: Burn, lemon, old dough, bitter
And it goes out like a wrecking ball. It burns, it’s bitter, and it tastes like old socks feel.
Conclusion: You can drink a lot better from Ireland, and something that won an award back in 2001 shouldn’t taste like this. William Grants & Sons (current owners) need to figure out what the heck they are doing with this, as right now it seems to be competing with Grants for a poor blend. I can see why people mix it, and wouldn’t recommend it, unless you need a lower end whisky.
Final Score: 60.
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 