Powers John’s Lane Cask Strength Review
In-Depth Review
It’s easy to understand the appeal of traveling to Ireland. The beautiful landscapes. The extremely hospitable people. The surprisingly excellent food. But for those among us in the spirits world – it’s all about the whiskey. Once the whiskey powerhouse around the world, Ireland experienced cataclysmic fall from grace that took the country from more than 80 licensed distilleries to only 3 remaining in 1966. And while the subsequent consolidation and recovery have proven enormous, Irish whiskey has yet to reach the level of success it once had. Despite this, Irish whiskey remains on the rise, with Midleton Distillery becoming the flag bearer for the Irish whiskey industry. Midleton produces Jameson, Redbreast, The Spot whiskies, and Powers all from their massive, cutting-edge facility in County Cork.
After traveling recently to Midleton Distillery in County Cork, I had the chance to pick up a relatively unknown expression from the Powers lineup – Powers John’s Lane Cask Strength. While the standard Powers John’s Lane expression enjoys fairly widespread distribution, this cask strength version was only recently released and is limited to within Ireland. It keeps its 12 year age statement and its bourbon cask and Oloroso sherry maturation but takes the ABV from 46% in standard guise all the way up to 57.8% at full cask strength. Featuring non-chill filtration and an MSRP of around $85, this feels like a winner on paper. But let’s see if it’s worth the journey to Ireland’s luscious green landscapes to find it.
Age: 12 Years
ABV: 57.8%
Cask: Mostly ex-bourbon casks with some Oloroso sherry butts
MSRP: $85-90
Distillery Name: Midleton Distillery
Review Date: 6/5/25
Color: Solid 14 karat gold
Nose: The nose starts off big with lots of honey, buttercream, browned butter, fresh baked sourdough, and a touch of the classic Midleton pot still funk. Despite that, it remains quite clean with a lovely minty herbal note that tries to poke through. The heat is hard to miss, with wafting notes of ethanol filling the room immediately after a fresh pour.
Palate: First sip. Double take. Where did all that heat from the nose go? While the nose can fill a room with heat, the palate has an utterly sublime easy drinking character. It’s Key Lime pie, caramel sauce, hearty oats, chocolate shavings, and more buttercream. There’s gentle English breakfast tea, a light fruitiness, and a good, solid mouthfeel. Its gentle, inviting, deceptively easy drinking attitude still has me shook. How can this firebreathing cask strength pot still pour drink this smooth?
Finish: Long finish that gives a lingering tingle on the front of the tongue. It gives notes of spearmint, apricot, hot honey, and oak. The finish is more classically reminiscent of the standard John’s Lane expression – with a lingering pot still malt note that goes and goes.
Final Thoughts: The cask strength version of Powers John’s Lane whiskey is a welcome step up from the standard bottling and provides yet another reason to make the whiskey pilgrimage to the Emerald Isle. It’s a lovely dram with a shocking calm and balanced palate – even at more than 57% ABV. While not as sweet as the standard bottling, it leaves the same robust character, just cranked up a few notches and a splash more of mint. Adding a few drops of water balances it further, adding a bit more spice on the finish. But even without water, this may be the easiest drinking cask strength whiskey I’ve had in ages. If you had told me this was coming in closer to 50% ABV, I would have easily believed you. And while all of this feels like it’d be expensive, it’s great to see Midleton keeping the price reasonable – making this one of the great values in the distillery giftshop and at Dublin Duty Free.
