Proper Twelve Blended Irish Whiskey (700ml)

MMA fighter, Conor McGregor, has created an "instantly popular" whiskey with the former Bushmills distillery manager, David Elder. It marks the first Irish celebrity whiskey following the lead of Matthew McConaughey’s Longbranch Bourbon and Bob Dylan’s Heaven’s Door Whiskey in the US. Like many Irish before it, it's a triple distilled three year old malt and grain blend with maturation in Bourbon barrels giving it a vanilla, honey-like sweetness. A malt component from Bushmills adds body. The label pays homage to the founder's neighbourhood of Crumlin, where the postal code is 'Dublin 12'. Given McGregor's exuberant public personality, some have felt the liquid and the packaging are a double let down. A review from Business Insider Australia ended with the statement, "The green bottle and boring label are certainly not memorable. And neither are the contents."

Tasting note: Bright amber gold. White pepper, vanilla bean and unripe pineapple aromas make for a rum-like sniff. The nose-feel is leaner and drier after 2-3 minutes air contact. Light to medium bodied, with brisk vanilla wafer and light caramel flavours, giving way to ripe peach. The aftertaste shows hints of bitter chocolate. It's basic stuff by Irish standards. Don't go looking for complexity. 40% Alc./Vol.

Other reviews... Initially, Conor McGregor’s whiskey seems more laborious than notorious, with a rather unremarkable nose of fondant orange and mediocre spices, not helped by the first sip’s wishy-washy fruitiness of diluted orange and fudge, but before you tap out, it gets back on its feet and starts swinging for the fences with a redeeming comeback of gingerbread, clove, pepper, charred oak, and a knockout, gum-tingling buzz of spice.
85 points - whiskyadvocate.com, reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2019)