Jameson - Select Reserve

The planets have aligned and I have found myself in the coveted position of having enough money to afford a lovely bottle of whiskey but it's always tough when this happens because I go into the choice blind and, like a diabetic pondering upon their 1 chocolate bar for the year, I have to agonise over the pros and cons of purchasing each and every bottle on sale... In the end I settled for the one that was reduced by £10... Because as much as the single malts called out to me, they were all really bloody expensive. This whiskey also holds some significance for me as, last year, my girlfriend and I visited the Jameson distillery in Dublin, an experience that I enjoyed entirely too much. It was, however, when I was traipsing through the gift shop, attempting to buy gifts for people that they neither needed nor particularly wanted, that I saw a bottle of the Select Reserve. It may have been the lighting or it may have been the Americans jostling around behind me and trying on hats but in that moment I was jealous of the very shelf that that bottle sat on. I admit I was swept up in the pro-Jameson propaganda that you were bound to get at the Jameson distillery but now that I've had the Select Reserve, I am not an unhappy man.

The aroma is deliciously woody and the it has hints of brown sugar on the palate, I would describe it (predictably) as regular Jameson, just better. It's still the same delicious and inclusive whiskey that the standard model is, but maybe it's not one for the connoisseurs. I shall explain myself. I drink beer because I love the intricacies and the varying depths in flavour that differentiate brands and nationalities. I drink whiskey because I like drinking whiskey and, thus, am somewhat less tolerant of whiskey that challenges me. If I'm drinking whiskey it means I want something that appeals, lazily and languidly, to my own personal tastes. For me, in the world of whiskey, you don't have to be fantastically complex to be good... You just have to be, well, GOOD to be good, something that is completely subjective. I know what I like, you know what you like; I really don't get along with heavily peated whiskies but my dad doesn't drink anything but, what I like to call, "Ashtray Whiskey."

What I think, however, is that whatever you like, you'll like this. It's just such a good standard for whiskey! There is neither too much or too little of anything and is well worth the £20 I paid for it. Would I pay the full price for it though? NO! My favourite whiskies are cheaper and appeal more to my particular taste combinations. That doesn't mean you shouldn't pay full price for it though, it could be your perfect whiskey, you never know.

Food Suggestion: I really like the idea of this with a big old pork pie with some sort of pickle or chutney.

Drink this if you like: Any variation of the Jameson brand, Johnnie Walker or even some of the higher end bourbons have similar characteristics to this. It's not peaty, it's quite light and has cereal notes so it's one to be enjoyed at any time.