It's been a while since I've featured a whisk(e)y in this space, and with St. Patrick's Day nearly upon us - or right upon us, or just past, depending on when you're reading this - I figured that an Irish whiskey might make a worthy candidate. Not just any Irish whiskey, mind you, but a single grain Irish whiskey.

     Greenore, which just received a packaging makeover that put it into a stylish cylindrical bottle, comes from the independent Cooley Distillery. It is unique in that it is column distilled from grain, rather than pot distilled from malt, and aged at least eight years in first fill bourbon barrels. This results in a pale, sweet and delicate spirit with distinctive vanilla and green apple notes and soft but lingering charred oak in the finish. "Elegant" is the one word that best describes this whiskey.

     Greenore is not a spirit for everyone, and will surely wilt in the presence of more powerful single Irish malts, like Cooley's Tyrconnell or the well-peated Connemara from the same distillery, but as a light, almost nectar-ish first-whiskey-of-the-day sipper, it is superb.

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