The Sexton Single Malt Irish Whiskey
Posted by Andrew Healy on
The Sexton Single Malt Irish Whiskey was released in the US in late 2018, a short time before it was released in Ireland. In its early days on the market there was some mystery about its origins but it's now generally accepted that it's a whiskey crafted at Bushmills.
There is no age statement on the whiskey but The Sexton website states that Master Blender Alex Thomas (of Bushmills) has "perfected a shorter 4 year aging process" and that the whiskey is triple distilled and aged in Oloroso Sherry butts.
The Sexton stands out on the shelf thanks to its packaging with a hexagonal (six sided) bottle of dark glass and its distinctive label featuring the top part of a human skeleton wearing a top hat. For those of you wondering why...well a Sexton was a person who worked at a Church and would have been responsible for tasks at the church, including grave digging!
Back to the whiskey...
The Sexton Single Malt Irish Whiskey sells at retail anywhere from $24 to $32 for a 750ml bottle and has an abv of 40%/80 proof.
Appearance: The whiskey is clear and bright and shows a golden brown to almost copper color (hinting at caramel addition in a whiskey so young.)
Nose: On the nose there is a medium intensity that shows light spice notes wrapped up in sweet caramel. There is a dry roasted nut character that shows through and in the background there are baked fruit overtones with a hint of cream sweetness almost like a winter crumble with a side serving of whipped cream. A few drops of water mellow all of this out so that no one character really stands out.
Palate: This is a mouth filling whiskey that is sweet and has a warm spiced character at the edge. It is very well balanced, soft, warm, with hints of complexity but no one flavor or character stands above any other. The addition of a few drops of water brings out the warm baking spice character and encourages a hint of pepper on the tongue.
Finish: The finish is medium to long, balanced, but doesn't really have any one character that shines.
Overall: The Sexton Single Malt Irish Whiskey is great value for the price and is a great Single Malt offering at less than $30. It would be interesting to see if more character could be extracted from it by leaving the alcohol a touch higher, 46% abv would be a good starting point.