Side by side : Three interesing Irish drams

Irish whiskey has really come of age in 2020, more and more distilleries and independent bottlers releasing their own and sourced whiskies. 

I've picked three sample swaps from my collection to compare side by side

A Port cask matured blend, an ex-bourbon single malt finished in virgin oak casks which were charred using Irish Atlantic Kombu Kelp Seaweed, and a triple distilled peated single malt which was matured in sherry.

All of these are sourced whiskies, one comes from an independent bottler and the other two are sourced by companies who are waiting for their own whisky to mature or for their distillery to be built - let's find out a little more:

Clonakilty Port Cask Finish is a sourced whiskey whilst the Scully family wait for their own whiskey to mature. They built their Farm Distillery in 2018 and started distilling pot still spirit in 2019. The whiskey is a blend of 10 year old triple distilled single malt and 9 year old single grain which has been finished in Port Cask from the Douro Valley

Currach Atlantic Kombu Seaweed Cask is sold by Origin Spirits Ireland Ltd, creators of Kalak Single Malt Vodka and Ornabrak Single Malt Gin The Name "Currach" comes from a traditional Irish boat made of wicker, animal skins and tar going back to the Neolithic times.

The Legendary Dark Silkie from Sliabh Liag Distillers, they currently have one distillery producing vodka and gin and a new one on the way for whiskey. The Silkie range is sourced from Great Northern.

Let's see what they are like:

Dram	Clonakilty Port Cask Finish	Currach Atlantic Kombu Seaweed Cask	The Legendary Dark Silkie
Characteristics	43.6% ABV, NAS Blend Natural colour, NCF	46% ABV, NAS Single Malt Natural colour, NCF	46% ABV, NAS Blend Natural colour, NCF
Bottler info	The first member of our Clonakilty Cask Series. We have used a premium Irish malt and 9 year old Irish grain. It was then gently cut and finished in Port Casks from The Douro Valley at our Atlantic Ocean warehouse. Nose: Fresh, sweet apples, ripe peaches and vanilla, creamy with a hint of wood character in the background. Palate: Very fruity with cherries, raisins and soft spices, some chilli and cardamom. Finish: Middle long with soft spice and a hint of chocolate.	Using the finest of Irish malted barley, our contemporary single malt whiskey is triple distilled before being aged in ex-bourbon casks. We then finish our whiskey for three months in unique American virgin oak casks which we have charred using Irish Atlantic Kombu Kelp Seaweed as our fuel source. It’s this perfect union of the Irish land and sea that creates a rich multi-layered whiskey with a delicate umami character. Nose: Toffee and raisins with hints of almond, backed by a roasted kombu aroma. Palate: Arabic roast coffee fused with salted caramel and dark chocolate notes complemented by nutty, earthy and lightly smoked seaside and umami undertones. Finish: Dark and rich flavours fade to leave a persistent and delicately sweet maritime finish.	Dark Silkie is a rich smoky blend loaded with character, the whiskey is incredibly smooth with a stunning natural sweetness. Continuing to draw inspiration from the rich folktales of the Silkie Seals, often told by the glow of a turf fire, Dark Silkie has at its core triple distilled peated single malt which is matured in sherry. This single malt is peated to 55ppm which after triple distillation becomes 22ppm giving a rich sweet smoky flavour. Nose: Fresh apple and pear with spiced dry smoke and welcoming virgin oak Palate:The Dark Silkie's signature softness develops to a rich salted caramel sweetness. Waves of sweet pipe tobacco, liquorice and dark chocolate give way to warm toffee and pear. Finish: Warming elegant finish of malty smoke and peanut butter.
My thoughts:
Appearance
	Pale gold in the glass, the port cask hasn't had any impact on the colour. Swirls leave a thin line in the glass with beads falling as slow thin legs.	Mid gold in the glass, swirls cling, forming beads which fall as slow thick legs	Mid gold in the glass, swirls cling, eventually forming beads which fall as slow thin legs
Nose	Orchard fruit dominates the nose - apples, pears, peaches and a small hint of vanilla and milk chocolate. A little air offers some oaky notes.	Wow - peanut skins, smoked seaweed and mouldy carpet. There's a huge tar note but this isn't a Ledaig - it's really not pleasant.	Gentle smoke covers stewed orchard fruit - oaky vanilla and milk chocolate notes hint at Irish grain.
Palate	Spicy ginger arrival dominates the orchard fruit and warming vanilla notes. The port casks offer a little red berry and cherry notes with a drying effect as the liquid disappears. A few more sips and the complex spice notes split into ginger, black pepper and maybe chilli powder.	Yuk - burnt coffee and peanut notes - can't finish this....	Sweet orchard fruit and honey, apples, pears, peaches come through but are then blanketed by the heathery smoke. Nutty chocolate and dry peppery spice are offered with a few more sips.
Finish	Long drying berry notes with a huge spice.	-	Medium length smoky honey and oaky vanilla notes. Nice.
Overall	Wow - what a strange set of drams - the Currach just completely missed the mark for me, the seaweed notes were just too overpowering and ruined what I'm sure is good West Cork whiskey - I'm sure other people will like this but I had to pour it down the sink... I can't find out where the Clonakilty is sourced from but it's probably Great Northern, very good spirit and the blend of single malt and single grain works well even if it's youth does show a little. The port cask has had very little influence on the whiskey but the spicy notes add a layer of complexity which I don't think I've seen in Irish Whiskey before - very nice. The Dark Silkie is sourced from Great Northern, aged around 3-4 years but the smoke helps to hide that a little - marzipan type notes and  a lovely dry spice epitomise what I think a smoked Irish whiskey should be like. It's still got the smooth orchard fruit notes but gives you just a little bit more. Worth hunting out!