Featured at World Whisky Day 2018: Originally created as a boutique blend in 2009, Writers Tears is a vatting of 60% single malt and 40% single pot stills, containing no grain except barley. In the subsequent decade, the whiskey has garnered various industry awards and mentions by luminaries such as Jim Murray and Ian Buxton. Writers Tears is likely a blend of whiskies from the Cooley and Midleton distilleries. There being only a handful of operating Irish distilleries, though more are in the works, it is quite normal for brands to source their whiskey to order and blend, finish or otherwise finish producing the final product. Like Canadian whisky, finding the source of the actual contents of the bottle can sometimes be challenging. Walsh Distillery began its own distillation in 2016, so we assume that as production continues and their house stock ages, the company’s portfolio will contain more of their own product.
Distillery: Walsh Whiskey
Region: Foreign
Age: NAS
Strength: 40%
Price: $36.99
Location: Royal Oak, County Carlow, Ireland
Type: Single Pot and Single Malt
Nose: Lemon, honey, vanilla, cinnamon
Palate: Butterscotch, honey, sugar
Finish: Chocolate, vanilla
Comments: This has nothing to do with the whiskey itself, but we found having it with spicy food really helped add a dash of sparkle.
Adam – The Writers Tears is a decent acquaintance for me. Friendly at first, on occasion bewildering and sometimes just not what I’m looking for. This unique blend of single pot and single malt is a smooth and silky on the tongue as you could ask for, along with a little more complexity than your usual entry-point Irish whiskey, along with none of the rough edges. There’s the welcome butterscotch coupled with a bigger alcohol hit than I’d expect at the abv, but it is not unpleasant. This works best for me in warmer weather, preferably with some added humidity to bring out the sweetness, along with a little bit of spice on the nose. This can be a good start to a tasting or a simple summer sipper, maybe a gift for someone in the forefront of their Irish whiskey journey. If you’re looking for something bolder or robust, this will feel a little anemic. Don’t let this one steer you clear of the cask strength version. That’s a whole different beast.
The palate reminds me of tasting mead, that honey quality.
Jenny – Light and sweet, with a sugary sweetness in the middle of my tongue in the middle of the sip.
Meghan – There isn’t a lot to this whisky. It’s simple, smooth, and unoffensive. It is a whisky best paired with engrossing conversation about something other than the whisky. It isn’t that the Writers Tears should not be talked about, it is just that there isn’t much to say about it. Depending on the occasion, that can be good or bad. The Writers Tears is a dram that will never distract from the story or steal center stage. It can play a wonderful supporting role and it did oddly shine with spicy food (a tough feat for whisky) as the food tempered the alcohol burn and the whisky’s sweetness helped calm the spiced food (cucumbers with cayenne and cumin) burn. I am tempted to see what it would be like with a good curry.
Michael – I’m only getting some astringency on the nose but the palate reminds me of tasting mead, that honey quality.
Peter – When I first had it, I did not enjoy it. I was down on it. But now, later, I thought that this was good. A really nice summer whiskey. I was just riding along with it.
Caitlin – It goes really well with spicy things. This would be a good book club whiskey, maybe helped by the name.
Ben – There’s not a lot on the nose. This seems like a utilitarian dram. It’s still sipping whiskey but it’s doesn’t go super deep. You wouldn’t lose a lot if you wanted to mix this into a cocktail. There are some whiskies that you want to talk about while you’re having them and this isn’t one of them. And that’s fine.
