Ballyhoo Irish Whiskey Review

By Andrew Graham

Rating: C-

Connacht Whiskey Distillery, located on the west coast of Ireland, has an intriguing story, and is an active participant in today’s Irish whiskey revival. Additionally, its master distiller, Robert Cassell, who also has New Liberty Distillery (see yesterday’s review of the Kinsey 10 Year Old American Whiskey for his blending handiwork) and Philadelphia Distilling on his resume, custom-made the Irish distillery’s three pot stills to the specs he wanted.

Ballyhoo is a sourced whiskey that Connacht brought to market in 2018, as the distillery waits for its own whiskey to mature. Despite the appeal of everything that’s going on with newer Irish whiskey, Ballyhoo is underwhelming. It’s an example of what I imagine a new distillery might put out when it’s working to perfect the stuff its people actually want to make but still has to generate revenue from something.

The Whiskey
In the glass, Ballyhoo has a pale straw hue. It has a mash bill of 93 percent French corn and seven percent malted barley, aged for four years in ex-bourbon barrels, and then spends a handful of months in Port casks.

Now, I absolutely love Port-finished whiskeys, and for the life of me, I can’t pick up on any port flavors whatsoever in the Ballyhoo. Instead, the nose that I got was that of a drizzle of honey on a cut of melon. The nose also lacked much fragrance. On the palate, I tasted brown sugar, banana, and sage, but most concerning was a grain-neutral burn, which occupied the finish. This is perhaps an Irish whiskey for mixed drinks, and not one to hold up as an example of what’s currently coming out of the region.

I do wonder what more time in those ex-Port casks (or perhaps better Port casks) would’ve done to this whiskey, or if bottling at a higher ABV (it’s 43%) would have revealed some positive qualities. But I’m not going to dwell on this one. I’m curious to try the whiskey that comes from Connacht’s own stills when it’s on the market. Hopefully, the Ballyhoo is just an outlier in an otherwise solid lineup.

The Price
Ballyhoo retails for around $30 per 750ml bottle.