Unpleasant waft of alcohol, oak, damp leaves, earthen root cellar.
Palate (undiluted)
Cloyingly sweet honey entry upon the palate. Super smooth. Malty, cereal (dry Cheerios), cloves, limes and ginger (surprising citrus elements). Not spicy. Actually, very little spice. No burn. Just some warmth (more about that later).
Finish (undiluted)
Short, ginger, black olives and a distinct Irish maltiness.
General Impressions
No peat. This is no surprise. Irish whiskey is generally devoid of peat. There are a few exceptions, but I will save that for another post. No smoke in Jameson either. What I take away from drinking this is lots of sweet, smooth honey, a boozey viscous texture, oak and some short ginger. Not sophisticated. Simple, good for mixing in coffee or cocktail. Drink it neat and there is a boozey warmth that will envelope you kinda like peeing your pants.
Jameson is apparently the best selling Irish whiskey in the United States. I think that factoid is more of a testament to American frugality than anything else. Jameson is the poorest tasting, no age statement, Irish whiskey that is widely available. I would take the standard bottling of Bushmills (white label) and Powers Gold Label any day over this tot.
Say Something Good!
What did my Mother always say? If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. Hmmm . . . I seem to violate that precept daily. Anyhow, let's try and be nice: (1) Jameson is cheap; (2) smooth; (3) no bite; (4)gives you a glow like the back end of an old picture tube television; (5) sweet like sugar donuts; (6) you wanna know what a frat boy drunk is all about.
Thumbs Down
Pass on this. It's cheap, sweet and a little too oaky. . . Sorry Mom, I'll try to be nicer next time.
Cheers!
Jason Debly
Copyright © Jason Debly, 2009-2012. All rights reserved, except for image of actor Joaquin Phoenix of the film Gladiator (2000 Dreamworks USA), and image of Jameson bottle, product shot by Jameson (Pernod Ricard). Close up photograph of Jameson bottle taken by Flickr.com member Pleasence who has graciously placed this photograph in the public domain for reproduction. All images appearing in this article are for the purposes of nostalgia, education and entertainment. Moreover, all images used are considered by the author to be significant in illustrating the subject matter, facilitating artistic/critical commentary, as it provides an immediate relevance to the reader more capably than the textual description.
