Comments on: Malt Advocate Whisky Awards “Distillery of the Year”: Cooley

By: Red_Arremer

Red_Arremer — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 23:49:27 +0000

Just had some Connemara cask at plough and stars pub in Cambridge ma. Pretty good! Tastes like a cask strength benromach traditional, huh? Which btw is no insult coming from me

By: Cooley, Malt Advocate’s Distillery of the Year « THE CASKS

Cooley, Malt Advocate’s Distillery of the Year « THE CASKS — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:18:58 +0000

[...] Malt Advocate’s Distillery of the Year I was excited to see Malt Advocate’s John Hansell announce Cooley as their Distillery of the Year. Though I’ve not tasted nearly enough, I’ve always loved Irish Whiskey (Red Breast 12 [...]

By: IJD

IJD — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 11:34:14 +0000

Cooley Distillery makes Scotch Whisky in Ireland.It double distills and some brands have a peated finish, all very Scotch to me. By the way there is no Pure Pot Still whiskey made in Ireland in the traditional manner. We badly need a distillery to make a traditional potstill whiskey but there are very few people left around who know how to triple distill. My understanding is its not just running the product through a potstill 3 times, its much more complicated ( and costly) than that. By the way Cooley make very good whiskey but its not a traditional Irish product. Good luck to them.

By: Seth Nadel

Seth Nadel — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 19:05:33 +0000

While I like most of the whiskies from Cooley, I can’t seem to get behind Connemara. I can appreciate the use of peat, which might be their way to get single malt scotch drinkers to try Irish whiskey, but it takes away from what I think Irish whiskey is. They are definitely pushing the envelope, which is great, but it’s not my style. I love the Tyrconnell finishes.

By: JC Skinner

JC Skinner — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 22:15:11 +0000

The original intention at Dingle seemed to be an entire potstill range, all finished differently.
I think they may have moved away from that now, but they still seem to intend to produce some sort of PPS.
I’d love to see Cooley do a PPS. I’m sure they’ve thought about it, but with literally only one distillery in the world making PPS in serious amounts, they know whatever they produced would have to be top notch to compare.
I’d like to see Bushmills do a PPS too. They’ve much lower a track record for innovation and as part of a larger conglomerate they probably don’t have the freedom Cooley do to experiment. But it would be fantastic to see them try.
For me, pure pot still is our uniquely indigenous spirit in Ireland. I just wish there were more options to choose from.
For now, I’ll have to be satisfied by Cooley’s existing range, which is frankly getting better and better almost by the day.

By: Luke

Luke — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 10:41:39 +0000

Paula, here in Ireland we wait and wait for a revival of ‘Pure Pot Still’ (“surely next year?”)

Alas! The only light on the horizon is the new edition of Redbreast 15 Year Old PPS.

The ball is really in Irish Distiller’s court as they have the stock, currently used for 12 and 18 year old, blends to make it happen.

Cooley undoubtedly have the expertise and talent to produce PPS, however, all Cooley’s spirit is double distilled rather than triple distilled. The result might surprise us!

In the end nothing but demand will get more releases of PPS. With a bit of luck Redbreast 15′s release in the U.S. later this year will get the ball rolling.

By: Rouvanne

Rouvanne — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:42:31 +0000

We’re also very pleased that Cooley’s won this award – although we’re a much smaller brand, we are very happy as The Wild Geese Irish Whiskey also comes from Cooley’s!

By: JohnM

JohnM — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:05:22 +0000

They were thinking of making pure pot still in Kilbeggan. And they have been expirementing in Cooley, so you’d never know. I’ve asked them about making pure pot still in Louth and they didn’t exactly say they wouldn’t.

John

By: Paula MacLean

Paula MacLean — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:32:36 +0000

Well done for choosing Cooley! They have revitalised Irish Whiskey and deserve every accolade they get – and they’ve had a few. If only they would make some potstill. John, please encourage them!

By: Robin Robinson

Robin Robinson — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 01:37:21 +0000

Well, I wanted Glaser to have the last word on that.

By: JC Skinner

JC Skinner — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:22:23 +0000

In an industry plagued by laws that are either insane or insufficient, that particular insistence on 750 ml bottles in the US strikes me as the most inexplicable.

By: Paul M

Paul M — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:34:47 +0000

Maybe it’s time the voters let our elected official know that 700ml bottles be allowed to be distributed in the USA!

By: John Hansell

John Hansell — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:55:09 +0000

Yeah, they sure do have a nice portfolio with a wide range of flavor profiles. Now if we could only get those limited edition releases here in the U.S….

By: JohnM

JohnM — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:02:34 +0000

Mark

Good point. I think Cooley has made Jameson/Midleton up their game too. It’s good for the whole category.

John

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:23:18 +0000

Here’s to purposeful independence that enhances the whole category of Irish whiskey.

Fine choice, too, John, of again highlighting artisan work that sets standards for independent distillers hoping to make their marks.