Drink

Somehow, I'm not surprised when Tir na Nog manager Elaine Moffitt takes a whiff of Tyrconnell and declares: "Oh, I don't like the smell of that!"

After all, the Mayo-born Moffitt is a Jameson-and-water gal, a devotee of the soft, vanillin charms that epitomize the classic big brands of Irish whiskey. And there's nothing wrong with that. But Tyrconnell is anything but typical - in fact, it's an Irish whiskey a Scotch drinker could like.

To be sure, it's not quite peaty like Connemara (a gem TnN also occasionally stocks, at $7 a shot), but it's a character-rich $8 dram from the independent Cooley Distillery, which revived the 18th-century brand as one of Ireland's few single malts. It has a distinct twinge of sea salt and lemon on the nose, and a swelling richness on the palate thanks to the pot-still. If that's still too hairy for your St. Paddy's sipper, but you still want something unusual, try the 1993 vintage of Knappogue Castle ($9), which is as light and smooth as whiskey cream soda.

- Craig LaBan