Table Of Contents
The Details
| Rating | 96 |
| Style |
Irish Whiskey Whiskey |
| Produced In | Ireland |
| ABV | 46.4% |
| Availability | Limited |
| Price | $2,729.00 |
| Reviewed By | |
| Review Updated | 2023-11-13 |
The Last Drop 32 Year-Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey Review
Sazerac-owned The Last Drop has built a robust reputation by sourcing some of the world’s oldest and rarest spirits, from high-end brandy to Scotch and American whiskey (to name a few). The brand’s latest release — number 32 overall — is its first Irish whiskey: a 32 year-old Irish single malt, no less.
The Last Drop 32 Year-Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey: Stats and Availability
It’s also the third in The Last Drop’s “Signature Creation” series, wherein spirits professionals help curate and blend specific releases. In this case, Louise McGuane — founder of JJ Corry Irish Whiskey — was tapped for the task. McGuane selected a number of vintage 1991 Irish single malts, which were then married and finished in an ex-Oloroso sherry butt.
The final result yielded 663 bottles. The Last Drop’s first Irish whiskey release retails for an MSRP of £2,500, or roughly $2,730 at the time of this writing. Let’s see if the flavor can match the price tag.
The Last Drop 32 Year-Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey Review
As with all VinePair whiskey reviews, this was tasted in a Glencairn glass and rested for at least five minutes.
Nose
The nose begins with both fresh apple juice and unfiltered apple cider. Right after that — and building over time in the glass — are undercurrents of tropical fruit, particularly papaya and passionfruit. Those fresh fruit characteristics undulate back and forth with the aroma of sweet golden raisins.
The nose is light and refreshing, and it’s tough to stop inhaling this long enough to pick out more specific, faint aromas. But it’s anything but a delicate experience, and those scents are far from fragile; they just take their time developing in the nostrils.
The sherry influence is noticeable but not overpowering, allowing the base spirit to really shine instead of coming through with an overpowering finish. Lightly toasted oak is the final note in the nostrils, the spirit hinting at its age at the very end.
Taste
Fresh fruit on the nose switches to dried fruit here, specifically papaya, the sweetness actually growing on the midpalate much more than the tip of the tongue.
Notes of white wine grapes pair with an effervescent and bubbly quality at the sides of the tongue, and it accumulates with each sip. The mouth feel is otherwise on the light side. This is a whiskey I could just as easily enjoy in hot weather as by a warming fire.
Dark chocolate — borderline bitter, but not quite — builds toward the back of each sip, and with it comes a robust pop of tart apple skins and almond extract.
Finish
The whiskey drinks slightly below proof, but light heat bolsters the finish. The heat comes only a second or two quicker than I imagined and barely — just barely — catches me off guard before calming to more flavorful elements. Overall, the finish is long and creamy, dissipating to wood and caramel without veering into extraordinarily sweet territory. Gone are the tropical fruits, replaced by notes cask-forward characteristic of a highly aged Irish whiskey.
The Last Drop 32 Year-Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey Rating
96/100
Recap
The Last Drop’s first entry into Irish whiskey yields an impressive (though, in places, imperfect) result. My main critique is the finish, which comes on quicker and hotter than expected, dulling some of the extraordinarily balanced flavors on the palate. It’s still a close-to-superlative pour that, frankly, whiskey fans of any stripes will greatly enjoy. Consider yourself very lucky if you’re able to access an ounce or more!
*Image credit: The Last Drop
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