Cooley 2003 12 Year (The Exclusive Malts)
It’s St. Patrick’s Day and therefore time for the obligatory Irish whiskey review. Of course, it’s rather silly to only review Irish whiskey around this time of year. There’s zero reason why we should limit our enjoyment of the whiskeys of Ireland to the month of March. And yet in the past I have fallen into the trap of only enjoying Irish drams around the green tinted holiday that the American public has commandeered from the Irish. So yes, I am going to review another Irish whiskey today, following up on the review of a true Irish classic I posted a few days ago—Redbreast 12 Cask Strength, but this year I’m going to continue to enjoy Irish whiskeys beyond the celebration of St. Patrick. It was actually one of my New Year’s resolutions for 2019 (the only resolution I made, to be honest)—to explore more Irish whiskey. So more Irish whiskey reviews will be coming this year, and I will not cease enjoying Irish drams just because the calendar has turned past March. At least, so is the plan.
Anyhow, this review will take a look at an Irish single malt from the Cooley Distillery, courtesy of The Exclusive Malts range from The Creative Whisky Company. The Exclusive Malts has long been one of my favorite independent bottlers. I’ve yet to find one of their bottles that was poor, and many have been quite good indeed. Add in the facts that their prices are reasonable and that they are one of the most readily available indie bottlers around me, and the end result is that I’ve bought quite a few of their unique single cask expressions over the years. The bad news is that the company was recently sold, and it sounds like the new owner isn’t all that interested in continuing the brand. Sigh. We really can’t have nice things for terribly long in the whiskey world, can we?
A regular feature of The Exclusive Malts releases over the past few years has been Irish single malts originating from the Cooley Distillery in County Louth, Ireland. Cooley is a fairly new Irish Whiskey distillery—it was founded in 1987 from a converted potato alcohol plant. Potato alcohol… what a waste of some perfectly good potential french fries. Cooley, which is currently owned by Beam Suntory, produces several different brands of Irish whiskey, including Connemara, Tyrconnell, and Kilbeggan.
It’s difficult to find Irish single malts bottled at higher ABVs, so it’s nice that independent bottlers are around to help fill in that gap (although such indie bottles are fairly scarce). This particular Cooley malt was distilled on December 15, 2003, aged for 12 years in a refill ex-Sherry hogshead, and bottled in February 2016.
Cooley 2003 12 Year Exclusive Malts Review
Type: Single Malt
Region: Ireland
Age: 12 years
ABV: 53.6%
Non chill-filtered
Natural color
Nose
A big burst of fresh fruitiness. Strawberries. Dried tropical fruits. A freshly cut red apple—yes, that red apple is particularly prominent. A bit of hard cider too. Ginger root helps balance out the fruitiness, as do notes of dried cereal grains. Slightly grassy. Quite bright and lively overall, if a bit simple. Inviting and playful.
Palate
Rich red fruits, with red apple and strawberry again being fairly prominent. Chocolaty powder (i.e., Nestle Quik). Raisins. Malty and rich. Nicely substantial texture, thick and fairly creamy. Cinnamon spice icing. Not nearly as bright as the nose, the palate is a bit more refined and mature, although certainly still playful. Quite tasty.
Finish
Medium in length. Milk chocolate. Red fruits. A cinnamon apple tart, topped with whipped cream.
Overall
A very good example of a quality Irish single malt. Fruity and chocolaty. The sherry influence here works in excellent harmony with the spirit—this is no sherry bomb, but rather a well integrated sherry-matured whiskey.
SCORE: 7/10
Final Thoughts
I’ve been exploring more quality Irish whiskeys of late, and I’ve been enjoying the journey. There is some really outstanding Irish whiskey out there if you look for it, such as this one. That said, I can’t help but wish that Cooley was making Irish single pot still whiskey instead of (or at least in addition to) single malt. Single malts are wonderful of course, but single pot still is a uniquely Irish style of whiskey that is severely underrepresented on liquor store shelves, and almost all of it that is available comes from the Midleton Distillery. Yeah, I know it’s weird to be criticizing a whiskey for being something it is not… I’m not so much criticizing as much as lamenting the fact that there isn’t more good single pot still whiskey along the lines of Redbreast or Powers John’s Lane (another fantastic Irish whiskey). Anyhow, this Cooley is a lovely malt and well worth exploring.
Buying Advice: It’s not cheap at around $110, but it’s not unreasonable either for what it is. If you’re looking for a good Irish single malt, or just a good single malt period, this is a solid buy.
Questions about my scoring system? Refer to the Review Method & Scoring Scale page.
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