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Glendalough Mountain Strength Poitin (Irish Moonshine)
2K views
Apr 14, 2025
This St. Patrick's Day, I'm trying Poitín, the world's first distilled spirit. Glendalough Poitin (Potcheen) is made from malted barley and sugar beets. I also compare it to traditional American Moonshine (White Dog) from Buffalo Trace! Join the Whiskey & Gaming Lounge on Discord: http://BourbonBytes.com Become a Patreon Supporter: http://Patreon.com/BourbonBytes Bourbon Bytes Merch: http://BourbonBytes.Threadless.com #WhiskeyTube #WhiskeyTube #RyeWhiskey
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0:00
Hey everyone, welcome to Bourbon Bites, whiskey reviews with a gaming twist. It is almost St
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Patrick's Day, which means what better time than now to review Glendalock Poitcin
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Now I'm almost certainly mispronouncing that, but Poitcin was considered the very first distilled
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spirit in the world. It was actually distilled by 6th century Irish monks and made from malted
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barley, although this one is made from both malted barley and sugar beet. It's bottled at
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1 cent proof, which these are typically caste strength. It was actually banned in the 1600s
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because the government of Ireland wanted to end up taxing it. So it sounds very familiar to a
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certain spirit we have here in the States called moonshine. Of course, this isn't made from corn
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but it has a pretty similar story. So I wanted to open up, give it a try. I am Irish. I mean
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I'm 7% Irish, but close enough. So I want to see how I like this and how it compares to American
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moonshine. So on the nose, this is still really, really sweet. If you've tried actual moonshine
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you'll know that has a really bright corn sweetness. This is a little bit different though
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This is almost like a gooey marshmallow cream kind of sweetness. Definitely a lot of vanilla
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jumping out of the glass here Now I not sure if that comes from the sugar beet or from the malted barley but it is a very very nice nose They do say they do age it in Irish oak cask I not sure though because this is very very clear So I not sure the true history on that If you know please let me know in the comment below
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Is it typically aged, and is this just an unaged version of it? Very, very curious, because this definitely doesn't seem like it's been aged in oak
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But I guess we've got to give it a try. Cheers, guys. Oh, wow
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The sweetness goes away. Definitely sweet on the nose, but on the palate. It doesn't really come across as sweet
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it does kind of come grainy, kind of like that dry kind of cereal grain. You kind of get on some
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scotches, but it has none of the sweetness that usually comes along with it. It has a very lively
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flavor though, not quite fruity, but it has sort of like a raw aspect to it, like a, almost like a
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sawdust kind of note. Definitely is a lot more balanced than I would have thought just based on the nose, especially for a moonshine-like spirit. I mean, usually that's kind of all over the place
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This actually is pretty, pretty drinkable and enjoyable on its own. Now, I've never had unaged
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white dog from scotch or Irish whiskey, but I imagine it's pretty much this
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It's malted barley. Like I said, this one does use sugar beet, so it does maybe add a little bit of sweetness
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there, but definitely is like a very interesting experience, especially coming from a bourbon
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guy that used to you know white dog made from corn Now I did want to do a quick side between Buffalo Trace white Dog This is mash number one which is a corn rye and malted barley recipe but again it still more corn forward because this is the recipe for their bourbon
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This one's actually higher proof. This is 125 proof, so let's do a little side-by-side. This one is like a buttery sweetness. It's almost like a buttered popcorn on the nose
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It's actually more butter than corn note, which is really weird. It's been a while since I've had this one, so weird to go back to it after trying that one. Let's go ahead and give it a try. Cheers
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There's the corn, still buttery. It's almost like the corn kernels at the bottom of a popcorn that
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didn't fully get popped. I don't know if you guys are weird like me, but for some reason I like to chew on those sometimes. This kind of gives me some notes similar to that. It's kind of got that
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nuttiness of an unpopped popcorn kernel, but slathered in butter. Definitely oilier in the
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mouthfeel, and I would say more complex overall than the poichin. Going back to this on the nose
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it's almost a little more sour than the bourbon mash bill. This one's definitely more grain forward
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the poichen compared to the buffalo trace because this one again is it is malted barley
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It does have a little bit of sugar beet apparently according to the website, but definitely grain forward
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The other one is a little more complex and you know buttery oily This one a little more straightforward So do I recommend Glendolic pochen I would say if you been curious to try an unaged malted barley spirit definitely give it a try This was
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about $30, so not quite cheap. But again, this Buffalo Trace, I mean, this is a 375. This was
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about $15, so relatively about the same price, especially if you want to experiment, give it a
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try. I am very curious to see what else Glendaloc has to offer. I've never had any of the other
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spirits as far as I know, unless it was like in a blind flight or something. But yeah, I mean
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I'm impressed. But again, I don't think this is probably the best expression of their brand to
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kind of sell me on the brand, but it's definitely cool to try. So let me know, have you guys ever had Pochin? And if you have, have you had this one? Have you had a different brand? Let me know
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if it's something else I should explore a bit further. So whether you are watching this the day before St. Patrick's Day on St. Patrick's Day or sometime in the future, I hope you got a bit of
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entertainment out of this. Definitely cool to try something from something that is part of my
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heritage, my little 7%. But until next time, this has been Bourbon Bites Whiskey Reviews
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with a gaming twist. I'm Clifton, cheers, and I'll see you guys next video
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