Review #111: Cooley 13yr 1999/2013, 51.4% abv, The Whisky Mercenary, peated

so basically this is single-cask Connemara

It would be nice to get in a Cooley High reference, but sometimes things don't work out. All the same, this recently reappeared at Whiskysite.nl, so it seems like a good time to write it up. Casks of Cooley should be drying up since the distillery, I hear, stopped selling them out (except to Teeling?). I don't know why -- it's not like they have the "Cooley" brand to protect, but it seems to be Beam's way. This is single malt, from a pot still, I believe.

nose: it's not overwhelming, but it's a slightly acrid peat, with lots of dark smoke and forest floor. behind that there's some creamy malt and melon. Beyond that there's some banana, lemon drops, chamomile, and marshmallows, but that all takes a while to open up. It's nice when it does.

palate: sweet and indistinct. I got berries and bourbon vanilla for a second, and then it disappears.

finish: the peat comes back strong and sharp, until some Juicy-Fruit sweetness washes it away. And then peat comes back, at once creamier and more medicinal.


I can't quite figure this one out. Every sip seems different: sometimes it's a mouthful of acrid peat, sometimes it's melons and candy, sometimes it becomes creamier and maltier. Maybe it just takes more patience than I have, but the parts don't seem to come together for me. This is almost great, but I might just not like Cooley as much as some others do.

score: 85