Here is Red enjoying a whiskey and ginger!
One night very recently, my boyfriend came home after a whiskey shin-dig with his friends and along with flushed freckled cheeks and his radiant bearded smile, he had in his arms a partially drunk bottle of whiskey. Shiny green bottle that it was, my eyes lit up with a peak of interest. As they usually do when I see a beautiful bottle of whiskey, which is to say most are pretty damn beautiful. After about five minutes of giggling I realized he was saying that the name of it was Irish Mist. An almost romantical (yes I made this word up ) quality to it. The name sort of makes me feel like it’s a drink that you’d catch one of those radiant elves from Lord of the Rings drinking. I’ve never tasted it so you can imagine my excitement to get to sleep so tomorrow would be here so I could patiently wait for a decent hour (as not to seem like a lush hehe ) to give it a try. I waited until 5 pm. The worlds preferred happy hour. 🙂 Thus beginning one of my favorite past times….figuring out how I’d like to drink it, if it does indeed taste good and if so, why.
A brief history
So it’s said that the nobles of the ancient clans of Ireland had drunk heather wine for centuries, a spirit combined with honey, spices and herbs. The secret of said drink apparently disappeared in 1691. Then, quite fantastically , a European traveler found an old manuscript with a recipe that was recognize by a Desmond Williams, who then transformed it into Irish Mist setting up the Irish Mist Liqueur Company. The company dates back to 1829 in Tullemore, Ireland and then it was in the 1940’s when Desmond made his discovery.
According to their website it’s Ireland’s first original whiskey liqueur and is a blend of Irish whiskey, honey and natural aromatic spices. Although I am uncertain if unnatural spices exist.
Tastes great:
- With cola and lime over ice
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On it’s own
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As an Irish coffee, you simply add a generous amount to a freshly brewed cup of java! Voila! Always a wonderful thing to start a brunch out with or even a soccer game day.
Color: Golden
Aroma: Yummy and whiskey like
Finish: Subtle hints of honey and caramel
Why I loved it– I had a ton of thoughts to put to paper the next evening so I poured myself a glass of Irish Mist over some ice, splashed an ounce or two of coca cola in it and my search for a lemon or lime in my fridge ended with me using an orange instead. I squeezes a little juice from the orange in it. It was fantastic. I was pleasantly surprised. It definitely had a strong note of citrus but the underlying flavor of honey was wonderful. I immediately decided this was a great drink for the evenings when you want a lighter kind of whiskey. It’s great if your wanna have one long drink ,if you mix it and if your preference is to simply drink it neat (with no ice) then the honey flavor is complimented by a slight nuttiness too. Wonderful I say! The finish was very clean and lingered, in a really good way.
So, all in all, give it a try if you see at your local pub or go all in and buy a bottle, even if you don’t like it on the rocks (with ice) or neat then keep it for those mixed whiskey drinks you want to share with company. Besides you never can have too few options of whiskey to drink when entertaining. 🙂
Drink merrily! ❤
Cassandra
A cup of Noodle soup 