Below $30CIrish WhiskeyWhiskey Reviews

Proper No. 12 Irish Whiskey Review

By Andrew Graham

Rating: C

Proper Twelve Irish Whiskey
Proper Twelve Irish Whiskey
(Credit: Proper Twelve)

I am an outlier among Millennials in that I frequently have to Google celebrities to find out who they are, so learning that MMA fighter and boxer Conor McGregor is behind Proper No. 12, a new Irish whiskey, didn’t set me up with any particularly elevated expectation for the spirit.

Instead, I gave it an objective chance. And if this whiskey clears any bar at all, it is the low one of being not altogether different from the other blended Irish whiskeys that are more often deferred to than sought out. “Is there Green Spot? No? I guess Bushmill’s, then.”

Before the tasting notes, let’s talk for a moment about how people actually behave. A week after my wife and I and some friends initially tasted Proper No. 12 for this review, I had a glass of it on the rocks with bitters and lemon peel. This is probably closer to the way an ordinary drinker of this kind of spirit would consume it in the real world, and it was good. But practically all Irish whiskeys are good when prepared this way, and I would credit Angostura bitters, which is magic that adds an extra layer of flavor to well spirits, and my corner market that always has good lemons for 50 cents apiece for this, before crediting the whiskey.

The value, then, of Proper No. 12 is in the celebrification of the whiskey, not in the whiskey itself. No one is jumping up and down, demanding another down-market Irish whiskey, but there is more than enough demand for McGregor as a celebrity to justify its existence, as evidenced by his $85m paycheck for fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017 and his many lucrative revenue streams as an athlete-slash-pitchman.

Proper No. 12 is unremarkable and ordinary in exactly the way you would expect a celebrity boxer’s whiskey to be. It unfortunately does not exist to assault the palate with new qualities worthy of appreciation. It exists to be marketed at McGregor fans. And that will be enough for the many people who will buy it and order it.

Nevertheless, here’s what we got when drinking it neat, and then with a few drops of water.

The Whiskey

Color: A few shades darker than the pale gold of other Irish whiskeys. Gold with a rustwater tint.

Nose: Very floral, with notes of straw, cut grass, and powder. It smelled hotter than I would expect from a 40% ABV whiskey. This was encouragingI like hot spiritsbut I couldn’t find any of the apple, caramel, or vanilla notes that I tend to associate with blended Irish whiskey at this price point.

Flavor:  Here, there was some pretty decent green apple flavor immediately, with toasted sunflower seeds and wet sticks behind it. I still couldn’t find any vanilla notes that Irish whiskeys tend to feature.

And then, the biggest downside to this whiskey’s flavor. There was a quality to the sweetness of it that seems inauthentic, like aspartame or saccharin, the additives that replace real sugar in diet soda. There was an emptiness to its flavor. I don’t know what might have led to this, but it was hard to ignore.

Finish: There was no real complexity once down. The finish, unlike the nose, is not particularly hot; it was rather gentle and airy going down, and that’s even without diluting it with water or ice.  None of the flavor sticks around.

I guess one could call this ”easy-drinking” or “smooth” based on these qualities. I call it passive and lacking in assertiveness.

The Price
The suggested retail price from the manufacturer is $25, and the press materials say it sells for “up to $30.”

Proper No. 12 does score extra points for donating profits — $5 per every case sold, up to $1m annually in total — to local first responder organizations and charities. I can support any legitimate charitable activity from a for-profit business, and I would personally keep Proper No. 12 around for mixed drinks and cocktails for this reason alone. But not because it is particularly good drinking.

20 Comments

    1. I just found this whiskey. After years of trying Black Velvet, and Jack, I just wasn’t a straight whiskey/bourbon drinker. Jameson gave me a little hope, but after a drink or 2, I was still reaching for a splash of coke. This one on the other hand, only has me wishing the ice didn’t melt as fast as it does to water it down. To my nose, oak and vanilla are the strongest smells, with a stronger caramel after taste. Either way, it’s encouraged me to do 2 things. 1) pay more for a quality product, and 2) invest in some of the whiskey stones

  1. It’s very carefully blended but artificially. It’s not naturally real. I’m talking caramel colouring.

    Still nice. How the head is in the morning will show how natural it actually is or if I had too much.

  2. This stuff is so bad it relies on McGregor to sell it all. Basically smells a little better than gasoline and tastes like they’re trying too hard to cover up how bad it is with all the extra stuff. People in Ireland should be pissed hes claiming its Irish. I wouldn’t drink it if you paid me

  3. I think irish whisky is over rated. I am sure there are other whiskeys which are just as good. We just need to keep looking for the better ones out there.

    1. The consensus on this whiskey is such that it would be hard to describe it as over-rated (over-hyped, perhaps). Irish whiskey generally is excellent, but only if its particular qualities float your boat. In particular, it’s hard for me to see someone who disdains Irish, but enjoys Japanese or Scotch. Taste is taste, but that particular call would make no sense.

  4. Irish whiskey is irish whiskey, this tastes irish to me, and first impression i thought it was good, i recently had some busmill single malt 10 yr, and some teelings of course, im fond of white bush and black, tullomore dew, jameson and the like…this tastes like a single malt blend with grains and also pot stilled, yes it burns, to let you know its a whiskey 🥃, but all in all the flavors weem balanced and goes down smooth i guess you can compare it with a jim beam and a old crow, every whuskey has its own flavor profile….and this is not bad considering the master disttiller is from Bushmills…people say its artificial, well i believe caramel is allowed, but the added flavors doesnt seem very irish ☘️ to me, so you would have to have proof, would McGregor ruin his reputation?

    1. Kevin… you must be a friend of McGregor …..or you haven’t sampled many quality Irish whiskies. This a a very very basic blended whiskey with no additional aged whiskey added in the blending process. Lots of Carmel sugars to soften the harshness…. Over priced… Over pumped with additives… Just like himself…

  5. thanks for finally giving a review that wasn’t sensationalized.
    mcgregor haters will just look for an excuse to bash his product, i just wanted to know if it was good or not.
    turns out its absolutely average, who would have thought people on the internet were just sensationalizing a product!

  6. So I just bought some of this Proper 12 blended Irish Whiskey. It is not bad; perfectly not offensive. Great first experience Irish Whiskey or to use in some mixed drinks. It was also cheaper then all the other Irish Whiskey at the store I was at. $15 cheaper than my “go-to” Irish Whiskey which is Teeling small batch (awesome).

  7. Nose: Month old sewer water

    Taste: Apples soacked in Petrol with light notes of turpentine

    Finsh: Will probably finish your vocal chords and you’ll never be able to speak again

    MIght make semi-decent varnish remover, but definitely unfir for human consumption

  8. The Nose: Somewhat earthy, wet straw or fresh cut grass notes. The Flavor: A slight hint of fruit. Apple and pear notes, but no spice or vanilla notes which is usually expected of a good Irish whiskey, even the blended ones. All in all, rather disappointing and bland with a bit of a bitter chemical taste that I couldn’t identify. The Finish: There wasn’t any. I waited for awhile, and even added several drops of water and tried another taste, but it just left my taste buds wanting for some reaction. If I had stuck one of McGregor’s sox in my mouth it would of been better than no finish at all. This to me is not an Irish Whiskey by any stretch of the imagination. Put the bottle on the shelf if you want to impress your buddies and only bring it down if you’re looking to make mixed drinks to hide it’s limited taste. Or treat yourself to some Redbreast.

  9. I just tried no. 12 for the first time, disregard all the hype and Connor’s big mouth, I think it’s a very mellow whiskey with good flavor and easy drinking, I like it, and that’s all that really matters to me

  10. As a novice whiskey drinker, Jameson being my go-to, I loved my first taste of Proper Twelve. Compared to Jameson, I thought the flowery bouquet as luscious and it encouraged me to make a point of trying other brands. Some of these negative comments made me wonder if was McGregor himself who was just unpopular.

  11. I never heard of Trevor McGregor until I read a review of this whiskey. Probably because I live in the Ozarks. I’ve tried about every whiskey I can get my hands on, not an expert, can’t put a name on some flavors, just know what I like and what I don’t. I really like this whiskey. I think it’s much better than Redbreast which to me tastes lousy. I’d give it 5 stars. A plus.

  12. All of you arrogant knobs are like those music snobs who likes bands that are unlistenable so you can your lord your superior “taste“ in music over other people, who wouldn’t want to listen to that crap if you paid them. This is perfectly drinkable whiskey.i
    It is quite good. Get a life.

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