26 January 2011 Ruben * Grain

Greenore 18 Years

Name: Greenore 18 Years
Brand: * Grain
Rating: 2.5 (2 reviews)

Greenore is the single grain Irish whiskey from the Cooley family. Previously there was an 8 years old and the highly praised 15 years old expression. Now they are accompanied by an 18 year-old, the oldest Irish single grain available. Well, not quite… there’s also a new Greenore single cask that’s 19 years old (cask #1798). But that one is only available at Dublin airport.

Greenore 18yo is bottled at 46% and the current batch is limited to 4000 bottles. In the UK it will be available soon, the rest of Europe will have to wait until mid February.

Greenore 18 yo (46%, OB 2011, 4000 btl.)

Nose: a mild nose (for a grain whiskey at least), with banana peel, apricot and sweet corn. Vanilla with a curious milky element, like a crème anglaise (custard sauce). A hint of cinnamon. Some honey and faint grassy / herbal notes. Overall quite smooth, oily but a little soft maybe. Hardly any synthetic notes that are common in other grain whiskies.

Mouth: balanced between very sugary grains (think frosted cereals) and plenty of spices from the oak (nutmeg, pepper). Pineapple syrup, banana, some coconut cream. Quite some vanilla again.

Finish: medium length, sweet but slightly harsh with spicy notes and oak.

Smoothness should be the keyword for this Greenore 18 Years. While it shows nice elements, it’s not perfectly smooth. Compared to Irish malt whisky, it’s also a little simple. Around € 80.

Score: 81/100

10Comments

Add yours

1

Mark Dermul on 26 January 2011 at 10:59

Being fond of Greenore, I look forward to tasting this one. Having said that, I feel the 15 yo is already a bit too expensive, so I fear this one will also be ‘unworthy’ (I mean that in the nicest possible way) of the price tag. Considering that the single cask 19yo, sold at The Loop in Dublin airport, is a steep 195 EUR, this one will probably be around 100 EUR, I think. The 15 yo is about 65 EUR, while the 8 yo can be had for about 35 EUR.
2

gal on 26 January 2011 at 17:43

Ruben,

nice post! i just posted my notes this morning on the same whisky …. we actually agree on the nose/body.
i rated this at 83… it’s nice. but no more.

Mark, i fear price/quality ratio here is not very good. this one will probably cost quite a bit. 100 EUR for this is too much. you can get some amazing single malts for less.

Gal.
3

MARS on 26 January 2011 at 18:12

I must say that I wasn’t impressed at all when I tryed the 15 year old last year. I found the 8 year old better(at least, the batch I tryed)

The single grain from bladnoch that I have tryed so far are at least good and real bargain.
The 1972/2009 invergordon at 44,5° is really incredible(for a grain). It really improve a lot once the bottle is open, and he is not scared of low level for a long period(I left less than 3Cms(+-5Cl) in the bottle for more than one year and the result was a big improvement)
Of course, you have to like grain whisky!
4

Mark Dermul on 27 January 2011 at 12:22

Thanks, Gal. I think you are right.
Oh, and to be a completist, Ruben, there is also a 6 Year Old (red label), but if I’m not mistaken, it was released only on the Scandinavian and domestic markets. I paid 35 EUR for the bottle, but have not yet tried it.
5

walter on 3 February 2011 at 22:35

78 euro here

http://www.thebondingdram.be/Shop/tabid/59/List/1/ProductID/28881/Default.aspx
6

Gordon on 24 February 2013 at 16:52

“Compared to Irish malt whisky, it’s also a little simple”

it’s most unfair to compare a grain to a malt and frankly pointless. Grains are on the whole less complex than malts which is why they are less common and out of favour by drinkers.

They are what they are.
7

WhiskyNotes on 24 February 2013 at 17:05

I don’t think it’s unfair to compare grain and malt whisky: I can get both for 80 euros, and I get more complexity with a malt whisk(e)y. You’re totally right that it’s not a problem of this particular grain alone, but it’s worth mentioning nonetheless. Anyway, there’s better value grain whisky and better value Greenore in my opinion.
8

Andrew Sutherland on 18 January 2014 at 23:49

I found this absolute gem for around 50euro in South Africa. I found it had a very strong taste of coconuts. When I had a friend (not usually a whisky drinker) try it, he asked if i’d mixed bushmills and malibu rum together… personally I like it, but I imagine it was a score on the price!
9

WhiskyNotes on 19 January 2014 at 11:09

I never score on the price. I think it’s a fairly simple whiskey (I tend to score on complexity) and the 15yo is just better. In fact a bottle of Bushmills and a bottle of Malibu are cheaper and give you twice the amount of booze.

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