The Prestige - Redbreast 21-Year

Redbreast 21 Year
Classification: Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey
Country: Ireland
Region: County Cork (Midleton: 51.913°N 8.170°W)
Mash Bill: 100% Barley (malted and un-malted barley)
Strength: 46.0% ABV (92.0° Proof)
Color: Unknown (rumored to be natural color)
Filtration: Unknown (rumored to be non-chill filtered)
Maturation: 21 years in unknown proportion of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks
Price: $269.99 ($299 regularly) (Total Wine)

tl;dr summary - a prestigious whiskey destined to be a special occasion sipper. A dazzling display of tropical fruit is without question the hallmark of this offering. An excellent whiskey, but not all is perfect in paradise. The alluring nose, exotic taste, and sufficient finish equate to an experience that when taken as a whole do not, for me, justify its lofty retail price.

Twenty one year old Redbreast was absolutely an aspirational bottle of whiskey for me. A very good piece of advice for whiskey enthusiasts that is sometimes forgotten is to figure out what type and style of whiskey you like before dropping the big bucks on specific bottles. It seems like common sense, but you’d be surprised at how many expensive bottles are purchased for no reason other than FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) or simply succumbing to powerful marketing and/or peer pressures. For me, my long-standing budgetary limit of $120/bottle, derived from the asking price of Highland Park’s 18-year offering, remained in place for well over a decade. Redbreast 21 was the first crack in my spending resolve.

Retailing for $299, but reduced to $269 courtesy of an in-store discount, it was at the time the most expensive bottle of whiskey I’d purchased. This was not an easy purchase for me to make. Indeed, I spent well over a year and half lusting after this bottle, proudly lingering in a locked display case, before committing to purchase. Leading up to the purchase was well over two years of consistent, dare I say dazzled enjoyment of Redbreast’s cask strength 12-year version. When one has such an enjoyable courtship, it is only natural to wonder what euphoria would emanate from a more serious commitment.

It is a funny thing having a spendy bottle of hooch on one’s shelf, at least it was for me. Deeming the moment not special enough, I procrastinated for months on opening my bottle of Redbreast 21. This is of course a fairly odd prospect - why procure a special bottle of whiskey only to have it sit on the shelf for posterity because no suitably proportional moment arises in which to indulge and enjoy. Eventually, I decided the night of my birthday was as good a time as any and so, three-ish months ago, I finally opened my bottle of Redbreast 21.

Tasting notes below collected over the course of four separate pours spaced out over the past three months.

Smell
Oak, red berry, raspberry, strawberry, vanilla, green grass, cream soda. With time, the bourbon influence is stronger than the sherry influence. The ethanol edge is a notch more pronounced than I’d prefer.

Taste
The taste begins with a rush of oak and spice followed by an absolute tidal wave of tropical fruits, specifically mango and papaya and then red grapes and ripe peaches. Towards the tail end of the sip, the mango and papaya remain, but the oak and spice return. The ethanol punch is strong, but never crosses into hot or prickly. The unmalted barley influence is less pronounced than in the 12-year. Be careful with added water, I found this whiskey will indeed take a small amount of water, but is easily washed out. For me, no more than half a teaspoon for a two ounce pour.

Finish
The mango and papaya continue from the taste, but linger in the backseat while the oak and spice are firmly in the driver’s seat. Eventually the oak and spice diminish leaving the tropical fruits and a pleasant tongue prickle from the ethanol. Gentle tannins. I’d classify the finish as medium in length, flirting with long, but never quite achieving the marathon distance I wish it would.

This is the rare instance when comparing two whiskeys side by side in a blind taste-test would not be all that helpful. The massive tropical fruit notes of the 21-year would instantly dissolve the uncertainty as to which was which. Because of this, comparing the 12-year to the 21-year is a bit misleading - these are two related, but vastly different whiskeys. Like comparing the Beatles to the Rolling Stones. Whereas the 21-year’s signature is the tropical fruit, the 12-year focuses on oak, spice, green grass, and stone fruits like plums and apricots. The 12-year to me is far more indicative of an Irish whiskey - the unmalted barley influence in the mash is much more pronounced to me in the 12-year than the 21-year. Further, the 12-year has a vibrancy, a brightness, and a depth of flavor that is every measure of the 21-year old, perhaps even greater, particularly in the finish, though that could be due to the 12-year’s higher bottling proof (cask strength version that is).

Recently, I learned in an interview with Redbreast Master Blender Dave McCabe that the folks at Midleton Distillery actually produce three variations of their single pot still distillate - ‘light’, ‘medium’, and ‘heavy’. Sadly, Mr. McCabe did not disclose much detail as to what differentiates each variation, but did say that while all versions of Redbreast contain the ‘light’ and ‘medium’ distillate, the 21-year consists of all three, and it’s the ‘heavy’ version that helps contribute the tropical fruit notes found in the 21-year.

Without question the mango and papaya I encountered in the 21-year was the most enjoyable aspect of the experience. On the whole though, I am left feeling a bit conflicted by Redbreast 21. This is indeed very good whiskey, unique whiskey, but I do not personally find the experience proportional to the asking price. For me, Redbreast 21’s biggest problem is that I can purchase three bottles of Redbreast 12-year Cask Strength for less cash than a single bottle of the 21. Delving into the metaphysical, I suspect, for me at least, the frugality of the 12-year also serves as subconscious permission to enjoy a pour of whiskey on a whim, devoid of pressure to apply pomp and circumstance. When pouring the heralded, and expensive 21-year, I felt an air of formality and seriousness; a sense that one cannot just casually pour and enjoy such a whiskey - there has to be a greater reason than ‘just because ’. Beyond the psychological hangup, I do keep returning to the same sentiment that I simply enjoy the 12-year a notch more than I enjoy the 21-year. We’ll see if that trend continues as I’m sure to keep that bottle of 21-year tucked away to be revisited from time to time.