Side by side: Jameson Caskmates

Rather than review drams by themselves I'm doing a little series comparing some 'side by side'.

There may be two or more, they may be from the same or different distilleries, similar ages, ABVs and types or not as I decide!

This time we are reviewing the two Caskmates drams from @jamesonwhiskey distillery in Ireland.

The Jameson Caskmates release is a unique whiskey that has been made with the help of Cork's Franciscan Well brewery. Barrels that had been previously used for Jameson whiskey were taken to the Franciscan Well Brewery to use in the ageing of their full-bodied craft stout.

Once used for beer maturation they were sent back to the distillery where Jameson whiskey that had already been aged was filled into them for a finishing period.

Following on from the hugely successful Caskmates Stout edition Jameson had another go with IPA casks creating what they call a "crisp and fruity tasting IPA cask aged Jameson with gentle hop and fruit flavours".

Dram	Stout Edition	IPA Edition
Characteristics	40% ABV, Natural coloured, NCF	46% ABV, Natural coloured, NCF
Distillery info	Triple-distilled, blended Irish Whiskey mix of ex-Sherry, ex-Bourbon and refill casks followed by a finishing in craft stout seasoned barrels. Nose: An initial aroma of freshly cut hay is complemented by a crisp orchard fruit character - green apples and pears, with a twist of lime zest. Mild pot still spices appear, deepening from green tea to hazelnut and milk chocolate. Taste: The initial sweet mouth coating typical of the Irish pot still inclusion is quickly complemented by the subtle touch of hops and cocoa beans from the beer cask finish. Finish: Long and sweet with milk chocolate and butterscotch.	Triple-distilled Jameson Irish whiskey finished in craft IPA barrels, for crisp hoppy notes. Nose: Floral, herbal hops, grapefruit citrus notes with subtle orchard fruits, complemented by wood shavings and a little nuttiness. Taste: Hops and light citrus with sweet herbal notes and delicate spicy tones. Finish: The lingering fresh fruit and hops give way to grains of barley and a signature smooth finish.
My thoughts:
Appearance	Coloured - but looks orangey gold, swirls lead to fast thin legs	Coloured - but looks orangey gold, swirls lead to fast thin legs
Nose	Wet grass, orchard fruit: apples and pears. There are definitely some hop notes but is that just my subconscious playing tricks because I know what the dram is?	Similar wet grass and orchard fruit notes but this also has a sour note - almost grapefruit? Again the hops are there - but is it just me?
Palate	Very smooth, sweet honey, slight dryness. Beer notes, dark chocolate and a slight spicy edge - nice!	Again very smooth but loads of sweetness on this one, maybe overly so? The sour note from the nose comes through - a real IPA beer influence. Some milk chocolate notes.
Finish	Slight burning in the throat, more beer notes and more of the dark chocolate.	Warming, coffee notes rather than chocolate and again the hint of drinking beer.
Overall	When drinking beer I love IPA, especially the higher ABV ones and rarely drink stout - especially the famous Irish one! But with these two drams I much preferred the Stout finish over the IPA. There were some lovely beer notes, chocolate and spice, the IPA, for me, was overly sweet but I did like the sour grapefruit notes that you get in IPA beer. These would make an interesting comparison the the Glenfiddich IPA I reviewed here.

Many thanks to @TheWhiskyNovice for the sample swap!