Shutterstock
In recent years, Jameson has become the go-to shot amongst people who are willing to pay a little more money than necessary to not have to deal with the risk that comes with ordering an unknown well shot, but the Irish export is popular for a reason: it’s damn solid whiskey. My liquor shelf might be filled with more bourbon than I should probably own, and while whiskeys from the Emerald Isle are slowly getting the appreciation they deserve, I’ll always save some space for the iconic green bottle that’s one of the only things I drank in college that I still drink today.
I’ve tried— and enjoyed— basically every variation of Jameson I’ve come across, including many of their more premium offerings (although I haven’t had a chance to get my hands on their seaweed bitters). As a result, I am more than excited to check out the company’s newest launch: its first-ever cask-strength whiskey.
According to Fortune, Jameson Bow Street is named after the road its Dublin distillery once called home (it now serves as a visitor’s center). It’s a 55.3% (110.6-proof) whiskey that is the first cask-strength spirit that’s ever been mass-distributed by the company (Jameson’s flagship is 80-proof).
Bow Street is a blend of different batches of whiskey ranging between 18 and 22 years old that were distilled at another location in Cork before being casked in bourbon and sherry barrels and recombined (or “married,” if we’re using cool industry terms). They were then aged up to a year in younger barrels in Dublin before being bottled, and the end result is a spirit that’s spicier than a traditional Irish whiskey and comes with notes of toffee, leather, and vanilla.
The bottle is set to retail at $290 (which could get you around 10 bottles of regular Jameson) and will be available in limited supply in 20 markets around the world later this summer.