Powers - Three Swallow Release - Review

Another month and another new release from Irish Distillers.

Last night, as part of the Celtic Whiskey Club, I took part in a tweet tasting sampling the latest release under the Powers label - "Three Swallow Release.

Powers "Three Swallow Release" continues Irish Distillers' investment in the Powers brand and specifically Single Pot Still Powers.  This is aimed to fit into their range just below the Powers "Signature Release" and is intended to offer whiskey drinkers an alternative to the more expensive pot still whiskeys with age statements.

Due to be released in the next few weeks, Powers "Three Swallow Release" has been bottled at 40% ABV and without chill filtration.  For maturation they have selected a range of ex-bourbon barrels and a small portion of Oloroso sherry casks.

The name allegedly comes from the fact that a mouthful of Powers should never be swallowed in one go, but in three separate gulps.

Onto my notes:

Nose - Initially fresh and fruity.  Orchard fruits, green apple and there's a nice youthfulness to it.  Light grain and even lighter vanilla.  The casks are not overpowering this dram.  As it develops in the glass a smooth creaminess comes through from the bourbon casks.  We move on to tropical banana / banoffee pie with some sherry notes coming through too.  Ripe pear with a little spice in the form of black pepper.  This nose is really inviting and there's a great balance of cask influence with the sherry notes noticeable but coated by the bourbon elements.

Palate - Smooth with huge amounts of cream.  Red apple, ripe banana, a little butterscotch and a vanilla hit of crème brûlée.  While it would be nice to see this at 43% / 46%, it still retains a nice spirit kick at 40%.  With time a little dusty wood appears from the sherry casks and again the balance is lovely.

Finish - Medium with a nice dryness of wood spice, red apple and, at last, a little red fruit.

Overall I'm very impressed with this whiskey.  It displays a brilliant balance of cask influence and also carries through great fruit flavours from the pot still distillate.  In comparison to another recent Irish Distillers release, the Green Spot "Château Léoville Barton", I feel this wins hands down as it's an honest dram that doesn't try too hard to be anything other than what it is....a well made, well matured, Irish whiskey. 

While still not on general release (it's due to be released in the coming weeks) it remains to be seen what price point this whiskey appears at, but providing it is priced well, which it should be, then I would have no hesitation in recommending this as an excellent "go-to" pot still whiskey to have in your collection.

More of the same please Irish Distillers!!

Until next time,

Sláinte

SI

PS - Excuse the slightly blurry image as a little jiggery pokery was required, given the fact no official photos have been released yet