John Jameson Crested Ten Irish Whiskey (1960s-70s)

Apr 7

It's a bit late for a St. Patrick's Day post, but why not. This dusty mini is worth it.

Contrary to common beliefs, Jameson was not always simply called "Jameson". The now-ubiquitous-at-colleges Irish Whiskey has a long, respectable history dating back to it's founding in 1780. As late as the 1960s, Jameson was still distilled at the Bow Street distillery in Dublin where John Jameson first sold his wares.

As with nearly every Irish Whiskey brand that survived the Prohibition-to-1960s era, all Jameson is now made at the Midleton Distillery in County Cork. Jameson's merger with Cork Distillers and John Powers in 1966 led to Irish Distillers Group. That group subsequently built and opened their new distillery in Dublin in 1976 as the Bow Street Distillery was shut.

In the half-century since, nearly all Irish Whiskey south of the border comes from this one, massive plant. The diversity of brands produced there is remarkable - Redbreast, Powers, Paddy, the Spots, and more - and yet there's always the question of what could have been had the industry not had to consolidate.

Don't get me wrong - modern Jameson is a solid Irish Whiskey. Behind the world-leading sales volume and new mixer-forward expressions is a true Irish-style whiskey, pot still and all. And I am far from someone who thinks all dusty whiskey is better than the contemporary version. This, though, is a dusty worth hunting.

What's a dusty? A dusty is any whiskey that is 1) no longer produced or has changed significantly since the bottling in question or 2) is simply old, meaning by date of production, not age of the whiskey inside. This dusty mini, for example, is from some point between 1963 when the Crested Ten label was born and 1976, when production left Bow Street. There might be Jameson Crested Ten out there today, but it's not this.

This Crested Ten features a red John Jameson & Son LTD logo above "Crested Ten Whiskey" in an art-deco font on a cream label that doesn't appear to have faded over time. The bottle's text says: "Jameson Crested Ten is bottled in bond by John Jameson & Son Limited, Dublin, and is listed at 70 proof.

A few things to unpack: first, this is not the American version of Bottled-in-Bond (i.e. the eponymous act of 1897). This means that the whiskey was bonded (i.e. bottled and produced) under government supervision.

Second, 70 proof of that era also doesn't equal the proof of today. Proof today is a basic calculation: double ABV = proof. In Britain (and most of Europe), the ABV calculation is different: a 7-to-4 ratio, meaning if the liquid is measured at 40% ABV it is 70 proof by British measures. This measurement is still valid, though most companies with worldwide distribution have abandoned this method and adopted the United States version of simply doubling ABV.

Finally, this version of Jameson Crested Ten Whiskey is a 10-year age statement Irish Whiskey. It hasn't been that for a long time, unfortunately, with the brand finally dropping the age statement entirely in their 2016 makeover. The brand is now simply Jameson Crested, though there is an "X" on the rear of the bottle (only on full-size bottles, mind you) to remember the age statement that used to be.

I haven't tried today's Jameson Crested, or even a version of the whiskey between this mini and today's. Part of this is because it's not available in the United States, one of the few Jameson brands or Irish Whiskies not exported across the Atlantic.

Cool fact for this bottle: today, almost all non-American whiskey is finished in ex-bourbon barrels. Per US law, bourbon can only be aged in new charred oak containers, so once it's used you can't use it again and call the liquid inside bourbon. Following this change, a surplus of ex-bourbon casks became available - one that continues today.

Ex-bourbon casks were cheap, plentiful, and flooded the export markets. Scotch, Irish, Canadian, and more whiskies all became bourbon-cask-aged or ex-bourbon-barrel. These whiskies from around the world can use first-fill, meaning it's freshly emptied of bourbon, but can also use these barrels two or three times. Given the length of time other whiskies are aged, most barrels will withstand two to three additional maturation periods, but won't give much flavor after the first.

But what about this bottle? What was the world's whiskey aged in before ex-bourbon barrels dominated the market?

The answer is wine. We might think of sherry and port as the first-to-mind, but whiskies were aged in whatever barres were available. Irish law (and Scottish, for that matter) dictated that whiskey be aged in wood containers, later clarified to oak in Scotland (though that's now being debated again). If your whiskey is aged in sherry or port, you can usually tell immediately by the color; if it's aged in ex-bourbon casks, the whiskey will have at most a slightly golden hue to it.

This bottle, coming from the transition period between ubiquitous wine-cask-aging and ex-bourbon-cask-aging, is curiously redolent with elements of both. There's a creaminess and butterscotch background that immediately makes you think ex-bourbon. Then, there's an apple/Calvados and sultana flavor that's powerfully reminiscent of Sauternes wine.

I don't think this was aged only in Sauternes casks, if for no other reason than Sauternes has always been expensive as hell (for the good stuff, anyway), but it's possible it was aged in both Sauternes and ex-bourbon casks. I would love to know more about this, and I plan to look more into it. I started with Allan Dwyer's article on Jameson Crested 10, and looked at other sources on Jameson's history (surprisingly few are out there).

There's so much more to find out about this bottle. It has the varnish notes often found in old whiskey or dusty whiskey, American, Irish, or otherwise. For now, I've got half of it left, and want to save it - it's one of the best Irish whiskies I've ever had.

John Jameson Crested Ten Irish Whiskey (1960s-70s): Specs

Classification: Irish Whiskey

Origin: John Jameson & Sons Bow Street Distillery

Mashbill: 100% Malted Barley

Proof: 70 (40% ABV)

Age: 10 Years Old

Location: Dublin, Ireland

John Jameson Crested Ten Irish Whiskey (1960s-70s) Price: N/A

Official Website

John Jameson Crested Ten Irish Whiskey (1960s-70s) Review: Tasting Notes

Eye: Dark apple juice. Medium rims, splotchy and hang-on drops.

Nose: Apples and varnish (in a good way). Calvados and malt, on the sweeter side for sure. Tinge of oak and fresh tobacco. Strong bourbon cask influence, though there’s Sauternes in here too if I had to guess. Hell of a nose.

Palate: Dusty and unique - aged calvados, a filling sensation and oak astringency. Apple strudel, dark char in the back, with so much bready character. Mouthfeel is oaky, brandy-esque, acidic and bright without being hot. Coating and oily, opening coconut and butterscotch. Scratch that - HUGE butterscotch notes.

Finish: Gets creamier with air, rounding out as a buttery Werther’s butterscotch. Long and oily.

Overall: What an experience. Wow.

Final Rating: 8.1

10 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close (Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Old Label Batch 4 or 2, Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel)

9 | Incredible | Extraordinary (GTS, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B518 and B520)

8 | Excellent | Exceptional (Stagg Jr. Batch 10, Highland Park Single Barrels)

7 | Great | Well above average (Blanton’s Original, Old Weller Antique, Booker’s)

6 | Very Good | Better than average (Four Roses Small Batch Select, Knob Creek 14+ YO Picks)

5 | Good | Good, solid, ordinary (Elijah Craig Small Batch, Buffalo Trace, Old Grand-Dad Bottled-in-Bond)

4 | Has promise but needs work

1-3 | Let’s have a conversation