I am not a big fan of the Connemara peated. It is a bit different though which can occasionally be a nice change-up. RedBreast 12 and 15 are both really good. Writer's Tears, I think it is decent not spectacular, but still enjoyable. Black Bush is one of my favorites, after RedBreast. The regular bushmills and also their 10 year single malt, I'm not a big fan of. Never had the green bush. The 21 year old is rather amazing though, but the 16 year is a real sweet spot in terms of price vs taste. The Tullamore Dew I think is good. They have a ten year that is really good, but occasionally hard to find, the cheesy jug I can't bring myself to buy. Green spot is also a nice one if you can find it. I've got some Greenore, John Locke, Crested Ten and Kilbeggan as well. For a go-to, I like the original Jameson, but personally, I like their gold label the best from all the "Jameson" branded whisky. I've said it before though, the Middleton Very Rare is a showstopper. One of the best whiskies in the world in my opinion, from any country.
I believe that there are some new distilleries opening or re-opening since I visited in ?2009?, when there were only three operational. I believe those three are connemara, middleton (makes jameson and many many others), and bushmills in northern ireland (a separate country). You can visit the historical jameson distillery in middleton which is a fun trip. It is defunct now, but you can catch a glimpse of their new modern distillery in the distance. Can anybody elaborate on this?
If anybody ever makes it to Dublin, you need to stop at the Celtic Whiskey shop, you will be blown away with the selection, limited, and one-off bottlings, rare and collectible whisky. That's where I got my bottle of Dungourney and Bushmills 21. They send occasional emails, and put together trips for groups to visit both Irish and Scottish Distilleries. The don't ship any liquor to the US, but they can mail collectible "vases" from what I've heard....
TD