In a detour to our usual posts, we’re looking at something whiskey adjacent here: an Irish whiskey liqueur that has emerged to prominence within the last couple of years; Shanky’s Whip.
Despite its old-school looking design, Shanky’s Whip is a relatively new name in the whiskey world. Or at least, whiskey adjacent.
What we have here is a blended (or whipped?) concoction featuring Irish whiskey, Irish neutral spirit (aka baby whiskey before it’s been oak aged enough) and vanilla and caramel liqueurs/extracts. It’s bottled at a decent 33% ABV and housed in an eye-catching squat bottle, complete with embossments of the company brand and slogan, and a cool matchbox-style drawing of a jockey being pulled by an ostrich.
The spirit was only launched back in 2021 by Shanky and Shireman, and has leant into classic Irish tropes and certain eccentricities with the slogan “always one to buck the trend” and describing itself as “the original black and Irish whiskey blend”. Smooth. Black. Irish.
Nose
It is super sticky sweet. Off the bat there is strong vanilla, toffee, and caramel flavours. There’s no discernible boozy notes either. Its colours and smells already indicate that this is going to taste like some sort of chocolate pudding explosion.
Taste
It’s super soft and creamy but without the cream! Essentially it’s a vanilla extract-like syrup but without it being a cloying sugary mess. It slips straight over the tongue and fills the mouth with the vanilla and caramel flavours. Even though there’s no coffee flavour, it has a distinct tiramisu flavour to it. Or like a Baby Guinness without the heft.
Finish
Super soft and sweet and my word does it invite another sip very quickly.
Verdict
A new party drink has been discovered here. We’ve called it out above but it’s like a lighter form of a Baby Guinness shot. And with a higher ABV! Drank on its own it doesn’t have the creamy body of Baileys but it sure does carry that Irish cream flavour and silkiness – all whilst remaining dairy-free apparently!
I like the imagery on the bottle itself and it does remind me of the drawings you’d see on matchboxes or something embossed on a mirror in an Irish pub. The gimmicks of the video promos do push that envelope a lot further to the point of absurdity but it’s certainly an angle to get this new product into a saturated market.
The promo suggests numerous ways of enjoying the blend and it does very easily work as a cold shot, or to amp up a coffee or hot chocolate. Again, it serves a similar purpose as a Baileys or Kahlua, but without the thicker body and heft. It works very well at this time of year too!
They also suggest serving it with an ice cold cola, and having tried that too, it really does work. Whilst adding it to the hot drinks just worked alongside those strong flavours, here it actually took over the flavour of the Diet Coke and made it taste more like Vanilla Coke than a Vanilla Coke. Pushed it to the point of tasting more like a cream soda. Dangerously so with no alcohol flavour or burn! Dangerous.
Overall a fun and delicious addition to the cabinet and one that will be replaced once the bottle is emptied in advance of the festive season…
M
Dram disclosure: This bottle was a welcome gift from TJ of WU, who was equally keen to share it with me after he discovered it last year. After a bit of time off from posting, this seemed an appropriate way back in. All notes are intended as an honest, fair, and independent review of the drink, and not as a promotion. Please drink responsibly. Please drink wisely.
whisky unplugged 
Certainly a fun drink but wow – it sure is sweet!
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