11/05/2026 Irish Monkey

Irish Single Malt 28yo 1989/2017 Vol.1 (56.2%, Limited Whisky Investment The Monkey Series in co-operation with Sansibar, Bourbon Cask, 164b, 16/05058): nose: very quiet, almost mute. Golden shortcrust with a dusting of confectionary sugar. It develops a greener touch, with rubbed mint leaves, citrus foliage and a pinch of lemon mint so dry and so faded it is hard to spot. Breathing time increases the shortcrust impression, soft, fluffy, with hints of baked mango, persimmon and apricot. Those two are really subtle, though. This is not at all an obvious fruity avalanche! The second nose is hardly more talkative and, if anything, it is more austere: it now has grated limestone and wet cliff rocks, as if washed by the rain. All that fizzes out after a while to leave but a generic impression of freshness. Mouth: a notch bolder on the tongue, it is thick and velvety, with peach nectar, persimmon and mango slices so ripe they melt in the mouth. Chewing, even briefly, causes an explosion of tropical fruit. We have a mechanical fruit chopper slicing mangoes at high speed and shoving all the output into the mouth, blades included. Indeed, beside the undeniable fruitiness is a lick of metal reminiscent of 117.3. The second sip has the gentle kick of a fruit-scented nail varnish. That paves the way for a mango-and-persimmon purée, and we may even detect timid maracuja. The metallic note from earlier is much more subdued, now. Each subsequent sip adds citrus foliage and it takes longer for fresh fruits to emerge, as they inexorably do. Finish: strangely enough, it has a pronounced bitter touch akin to chicory infusion, then heat. This drops a heated metal ball into the stomach, which then radiates heat through the whole body. The heat builds up especially at the top of the oesophagus. Those heatwaves carry wafts of baked mango and papaya before dying with a note of chocolate. Jammy at second gulp, it quickly grows in mango intensity, ripe, flavourful, and creamy in texture, close to quality milk chocolate indeed. There is even some caramel at play, in the long run -- salted caramel cream, to be precise. Even with a somewhat-disappointing nose (that made me think I inverted the labels of this and the Balvenie from the same night), it certainly holds its own as a whole. 9/10