St. Patrick’s Day 2026 – Tipperary

I decided to do things a little differently this year. Since I no longer had any Irish whiskey and I am otherwise a big Ireland fan, I decided to ‘celebrate’ St Patrick’s Day by reviewing a bunch of them. First, I thought I would stick with a ‘classic’ Irish cocktail, the Tipperary.

Surprisingly enough, there aren’t that many classic Irish whiskey cocktails. On top of that, the ones that do exist tend to use Chartreuse Verte a lot. Of all the recipes I’ve tried, the one I tend to go back to is the ‘Tipperary’. This also gives me the excuse to present a new Irish whiskey to you.

Triple distilled, triple casked

The Sailor’s Home The Journey is the creation of Irish whiskey expert Jack O’Sé. For this blend, he uses a mash bill of malted and unmalted Irish barley and oats. The mash is triple distilled and aged in first-fill American oak barrels. It is then finished in ex-bourbon barrels and subsequently in Jamaican rum casks. It has an ABV of 43% and is non-chill filtered.

Rum, rum and whiskey

The interesting thing about Sailor’s Home is that you will initially notice the rum in the aroma and taste. Only afterwards do the classic Irish whiskey characteristics come through. You can taste caramel, vanilla and some hot spices. Apart from that, The Journey is not as easy-drinking as you might expect. However, this may be an advantage, particularly when used in cocktails.

Yes, the Chartreuse is quite noticeable, but the drink remains balanced. The Sailor’s Home comes through nicely, and the vermouth provides a great backbone to the drink. Overall, the drink is quite sweet and powerful, but sometimes that is exactly what you need!

*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. I received the whiskey for free from Alba Import