I want buy one of these as a wedding present for a friend. I love a glass of whiskey but I’m by no means a connoisseur, but I want it to be special for him. Which would be the best for a guy who’s a whiskey fan but isn’t a collector. For context, when we go out for a drink, he only drinks whiskey and it’s typically a Drumshambo or Jameson and indulges the odd time with a redbreast 15 or 18.

My husband is from Ireland and I really want to get a couple of Jameson barrels to set up on the back patio, like his family all have back home. Obviously, they're easy to get over there (my mother-in-law just got some for $100 each in Dublin) but where do I look here in the States?

Hello Friends,

A good friend of mine is about to complete his doctoral dissertation, and I wanted to get him a bottle of Irish whiskey as a graduation gift. He enjoys whiskey very much, but has always been on a bit of a budget (read: Jamieson and Bushmills, with a once-a-year splurge on Writers' Tears).

Here are the contenders thus far, and their given price in my area (Canada). I am keeping it under $100. Any suggestions, notes, cautions, etc. would be very much appreciated.

Powers Three Swallows ($65)

Teeling Small Batch ($70)

Powers John Lane 12yo ($80)

Fercullen Single Malt ($85)

Middleton Green Spot ($85)

Slainte!

I will be in Dublin working for 3 days(from USA) and wanted to see if the duty free options at the Dublin airport lately are worth it?

I've been wanting to try more Irish Whiskey(I drink mostly Islay Scotch or American Rye/Bourbon) I was considering going for a higher end Redbreast or a Spot Whiskey. Am I better off buying at a local shop? I'm trying to find a great value for a better bottle or a limited release as the entry level bottles are usually available at a good price at Costco.

Apologies if this has been mentioned before.

Update: Thanks everyone for the great recommendations.

Found this on sale and bought it thinking it was new.

When I got home I found out I already had it.

Sneaky devils.

Guess I’ll just have to drink more of it. Oh woe is me!

And yes, I tried both. Same.

Bar Main Malt in Kobe Japan. A huge selection with over 60% being deep cuts of Irish whiskey.

It's honestly overwhelming so if I don't have a list going in I just pick a category and start with the help of the master who speaks English and is a very calm, cool guy.

The photo shows about half of the selection in this small bar.

Older Knappogue Castle is a classic excellent Jamieson single malt.

Gold Spot 13. This was a limited release. I always feel a bit underwhelmed with Gold Spot, especially at the price and this was the same. Always Blue Spot FTW.

Dunville's 19yr Madeira Wine Cask finish for Celtic Whiskey. Excellent. Rich. Not overly sweet. My previous fav of theirs was the 18 year Palo Cortado.

I tried many more over two days including some of their great and eclectic selection of Japanese and Scottish whiskies. Always half shots so as not to break the bank....or to try as many as possible!

Picked up the rum on a holiday and the whistler is one of my all time favourites

Picked up the Moscatel so decided to pull out the other Iberian series bottles I have.

Chilly day, hot tub night with a Jameson and Ginger, puffing a Drew Estates Dominican!

John's Lane and Blue Spot!

I prefer the JL to RB12 even though they are both the same source recipe, just a slightly different profile.

And Blue Spot is always my favourite of the Spots. The price here in Japan makes it an excellent value, almost a daily sipper.

Was gifted this bottle recently, does anyone know anything about it or the brand? Trying to do some research and unfamiliar with it.

Thanks!

I've been a fan of writer's tears for a long time, but I just tried the Redhead version and I think it may be my favourite whiskey now! I just bought a bottle of the redbreast twelve as I'd never tried it before as well as a Blue Spot, and my personal preference is the Redhead by a decent margin.

Ok so who has tried Lot 40 Rye. I was recently in Winnipeg and grabbed a bottle in the duty free of the airport had not opened but now in Montreal and while out for dinner I grabbed a double neat. Wow flavor am pleasantly happy with it!

Has to be the best Bushmills out there!

Has anyone tried this? Is it just a watered down version of the 5 Cask Pot Still?

Finally got around to buying my first couple bottles of Irish Whiskey.

I’ve noticed my local costco was limited in Irish but had a variety of Scottish.

Recently I’ve seen more Irish brands coming in and I bought the RB12 first. The following week they had another, so I also took YS12.

I did some quick searches before buying just to make sure they weren’t bad choices. Previous reddit posts confirmed they were good choices so here are my first two bottles.

Before trying them out, I just wanted to ask the community for feedback on these choices/makes and ask for any other ones I should look out for to try and build a small Irish Whiskey collection at home.

My 9 year Gold Spot just arrived today from IWA. I'm over the moon. And yes, it tastes fabulous.

St. Patrick's Day deserves a month!

I like to celebrate for more than a day. But, time to put the decorations away and I forgot to show you my booty.

Doesn't everyone get presents that day?