“All good things come in small packages” and this is certainly true of this very smart 35ml bottle. Only five thousand of these exist and we here at the Whiskey Trail HQ have truly fallen for this beauty from the Wild West.
Spade & Bushel is the first release of whiskey from the Connacht Whiskey Company in county Mayo. It is a triple distilled whiskey in copper pot stills and bottled at cask strength at 57.5%.
Connacht has managed to capture the beauty of the west in this bottling. Aromas of fresh meadow wild flowers flicker with day old cut grass. Spring honey, hay and Chinese pears seduce the nose. Add some lemongrass and sweetpea to make you swoon.
Juicy pears, lemongrass and sweetpeas lead into what turns into quite a meaty body yet retains its delicate profile of snowdrops and sugarcane. It really is an amplified version of the nose.
The addition of water takes more from the body than from the alcohol. It is an elegant whiskey that will seduce you.

NOSE
The nose is rich with notes of soda bread, apples and pears,
PALATE
More flavours of orchid fruits with apples and pears, that’s layered with honeyed stone fruit and baking spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.
FINISH
Sweet spiced praline with a lively spicy finish

Where to Drink: Spade & Bushel 10 year old
On the banks of the beautiful River Moy is The Connacht Distillery, it sits where the river widens into the Moy Estuary in Ballina, County Mayo. Or why not pop into Rouse’s Bar open since 1946. The premises itself has been a pub since 1865, making it one of the town’s oldest bars. It is a family run traditional Irish bar #TheWhiskeyTrail
Every Whiskey Tells a Story, What Will Yours Be?
Sláinte from The Whiskey Trail
#EatDrinkExplore – by Paul Kavanagh
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