Jameson Original – Is it really worth it?

Jameson Original

★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8.1 / 10

Type: Blended Irish Whiskey
Country: Ireland
ABV: 40%
Age: NAS
Price paid: $33 for 1 litre

Our Verdict

Jameson is probably one of the least adventurous bottles I could have picked to start digging properly into whisky. It’s everywhere. Bars have it. Supermarkets have it. Airports have it. Even people who don’t really drink whisky tend to recognise the green bottle.

But that’s also exactly why it’s interesting.

Jameson Original is already one of my favourite supermarket whiskies. I paid $33 for this one-litre bottle and tried it both neat and over ice, and the thing I keep coming back to is just how smooth and easy it is to drink. There’s no big fight with the alcohol and nothing about it feels like it’s deliberately trying to challenge you.

That can also be its weakness. If you’re looking for some massive, complicated whisky that changes every five minutes in the glass, Jameson probably isn’t going to provide it.

But for $33 a litre? I don’t really need it to.

This is affordable, approachable whiskey that I genuinely enjoy drinking. It’s also exactly the sort of bottle that can take someone from simply buying whisky at the supermarket to wondering what the hell actually goes into making the stuff.

That’s basically what Caskable is about.

What Is Jameson Original?

Jameson Original is a blended Irish whiskey made at Midleton Distillery in County Cork.

“Blended Irish whiskey” was one of those terms I used to see on bottles without giving it much thought. Whisky was whisky. Some bottles were Scotch, some were Irish and some had cowboys on them.

Turns out there’s quite a bit more going on.

Jameson Original combines pot still whiskey and grain whiskey. The pot still component uses malted and unmalted barley, while the grain whiskey provides a lighter component to the final blend.

That’s worth understanding because Jameson isn’t simply one whiskey coming out of one still and being poured into a green bottle. Different whiskeys are produced and matured before being brought together to create the final Jameson blend.

Then there’s another phrase Jameson has printed on its bottles for years:

Triple distilled.

Distillation is, massively simplified, the part where the alcohol created during fermentation is concentrated and separated into the spirit that will eventually become whiskey. Jameson puts its spirit through three distillations and considers this an important part of creating the smooth character associated with the brand.

That immediately became interesting to me because smoothness is the exact thing I like about Jameson.

It also makes me want to compare it with whiskies made differently and see whether I can actually notice what those production differences do once they’re in the glass.

After distillation, Jameson is matured in oak for at least four years, with the maturation programme including ex-bourbon barrels and sherry-seasoned casks.

And suddenly the basic green supermarket bottle has become quite a bit more interesting.

Tasting Notes

I’m still learning how to pull individual flavours apart when drinking whisky, so I’m not going to pretend I stuck my nose into Jameson and immediately discovered seventeen varieties of fruit, three spices and a specific tree growing somewhere outside Cork.

I didn’t.

What stands out to me with Jameson is smoothness.

That’s a word that gets thrown around constantly with whisky, but here I think it’s justified. Jameson is simply easy to drink. There’s nothing particularly aggressive about it and at 40% ABV the alcohol doesn’t overwhelm the experience.

Jameson’s own tasting notes go further, describing floral notes, spicy wood and sweetness on the nose, followed by spice, nuttiness, vanilla and sweet sherry characteristics on the palate.

Those are useful things for me to look for as I keep drinking and learning, but there’s an important difference between what Jameson says is there and what I’m confidently picking out myself.

Right now, the latter is much simpler.

I like how bloody easy it is to drink.

Nose

The nose doesn’t hit me with alcohol in the way some spirits can.

It’s approachable, relatively gentle and doesn’t give you much reason to be afraid of actually putting the glass to your mouth.

Jameson describes Original as having a light floral fragrance alongside spicy wood and sweeter notes. I’m not going to claim I independently identified every one of those characteristics, but knowing what I’m supposedly looking for does make going back to the glass more interesting.

That’s actually part of the fun for me.

I can drink this bottle now, drink another one after I’ve worked through another 20 or 30 whiskies and see whether I’m suddenly noticing things I completely missed the first time.

For now, I’m not getting a botanical garden and someone’s grandmother baking cinnamon buns in a distant forest.

It smells like something I want to drink.

That’s enough.

Palate

This is where Jameson earns its place in my cupboard.

It’s smooth.

I know. Groundbreaking whisky analysis.

But sometimes the obvious description is obvious for a reason.

Jameson doesn’t put up much resistance. You take a sip, it goes down easily and you’re quite happy taking another one. At 40% ABV, there’s enough alcohol to remind you that you’re drinking whiskey, but I don’t find it particularly harsh.

The official Jameson tasting notes describe spicy and nutty flavours alongside vanilla and a touch of sweet sherry.

As I get better at tasting whisky, those are the individual characteristics I want to start separating for myself.

For this review, though, I’d rather tell you what actually stood out to me than pretend I’ve suddenly developed the palate of someone who has been reviewing whisky for 40 years.

And what stood out was how easy Jameson is to drink.

Finish

The finish doesn’t suddenly transform Jameson into something completely different.

It follows the same basic theme as the rest of the experience: easy, smooth and approachable.

There’s no huge blast of alcohol after swallowing it and nothing that makes me regret taking a larger sip than I probably should have.

Jameson describes its finish as smooth and lingering. Smooth I can certainly agree with.

It’s not the finish that makes me reach for Jameson, though. It’s the whole package.

Nothing gets in the way.

How I Drank It

I tried Jameson Original both neat and on the rocks.

Part of the reason was simply that I enjoy whisky both ways. But I’m also becoming more interested in what actually happens when you change something as basic as adding ice.

You don’t need a laboratory.

You need a glass, a bottle and some frozen water.

That I can manage.

Neat

Jameson works surprisingly well as a whisky to drink neat, particularly if you’re relatively new to doing it.

There’s no water or melting ice changing what’s in the glass, so this is the way I’d start if you’re actually trying to understand the whiskey itself.

The 40% ABV helps.

It’s strong enough to obviously still be whisky but doesn’t feel like something you need to prepare yourself for before taking a sip. The smoothness I like about Jameson is particularly obvious when drinking it this way.

This is also how I’d recommend someone completely new to whisky tries it at least once.

Pour a little into a glass. Smell it. Take a small sip. Give it a minute.

You might discover you actually like whisky without Coke attached to it.

On the Rocks

Then I threw some ice into it.

And you know what?

Jameson works perfectly well that way too.

As the ice melts, it obviously introduces water and gradually dilutes what’s in the glass. The experience becomes even easier and more relaxed.

That’s part of what I like about having a bottle like Jameson around.

I’m not sitting there panicking because an ice cube is slowly destroying some irreplaceable 30-year-old single malt.

I paid $33 for a litre.

Put some ice in it.

Nobody is calling the police.

If I’m deliberately tasting Jameson and trying to understand it, I’d choose neat. If I’m pouring myself a whisky because I fancy one and want to sit down for the evening, I have absolutely no problem drinking it on the rocks.

There’s room for both.

Value

★★★★★★★★★☆ 9.0 / 10

This might be Jameson’s strongest argument.

I paid $33 for a one-litre bottle.

Not 700 ml. Not 750 ml.

A litre.

And I’m getting a whisky that I already know I enjoy, can drink neat, can pour over ice and can use as an everyday bottle without feeling like every glass needs to be justified to my accountant.

There will obviously be better whiskies.

That’s almost inevitable.

There will be more complicated whiskies, older whiskies, higher-proof whiskies and bottles that have spent years sitting in some particularly interesting barrel.

But value isn’t simply about finding the best whisky in existence.

It’s about what you’re getting for your money.

For $33, Jameson gives me a full litre of a properly matured Irish whiskey from a major producer that I genuinely enjoy drinking.

That’s excellent value in my book.

And there’s another part of value that I think whisky reviews sometimes overlook: how often am I actually going to drink the thing?

A spectacular $150 bottle that I’m reluctant to touch isn’t necessarily providing me more enjoyment than a $33 bottle I happily pour whenever I fancy a whisky.

Jameson is the second type.

That’s worth something.

Best For

Jameson Original makes the most sense to me for:

• People getting into whisky — it’s approachable enough that drinking it neat doesn’t feel like an endurance test.
• Everyday drinking — this isn’t something you need to save for Christmas.
• Drinking neat — particularly if you’re starting to move away from always mixing whisky.
• Drinking on the rocks — inexpensive, smooth and perfectly suited to a more relaxed pour.
• Mixed drinks — the accessibility and price make it a practical bottle for simple whisky drinks and cocktails.
• Keeping in the cupboard — this might actually be its strongest category.

That last one deserves more attention.

There are bottles you buy because they’re interesting.

There are bottles you buy because they’re impressive.

There are bottles you buy because they’re rare.

And then there are bottles you buy because you actually want to drink them.

Jameson is firmly in that final category for me.

Who Should Buy It?

If you’re standing in a supermarket looking at the whisky shelf and have absolutely no idea where to begin, Jameson is one of the bottles I’d be perfectly comfortable pointing you towards.

It’s especially useful if you’re used to drinking whisky mixed with Coke or ginger ale and are curious about drinking it neat.

You’re not jumping straight into something massively smoky, unusually strong or expensive.

You’re starting with something forgiving.

And if you’re already a whisky drinker?

I still think there’s a place for it.

Jameson isn’t trying to be the most interesting bottle in your collection. It can simply be the bottle you grab when you want a whisky without having to think particularly hard about it.

There’s something quite nice about that.

Who Should Skip It?

If you’re already deep into whisky and want every bottle you buy to show you something new, Jameson Original probably isn’t going to blow your mind.

It’s only 40% ABV. It’s deliberately approachable. It’s widely available. There isn’t much rarity or collector appeal attached to it.

And the same smoothness I enjoy could easily come across as a lack of intensity to someone who prefers stronger, richer or more aggressive whisky.

That’s completely fair.

Jameson Original doesn’t need to be everything to everyone.

If you want smoke, massive oak, high proof or something you can spend an hour pulling apart, look elsewhere.

If you want an easy glass of Irish whiskey on a Tuesday evening, now we’re talking.

Alternatives

There are a few obvious directions to go once you’ve tried Jameson Original.

Bushmills Original

Bushmills Original is probably one of the most obvious comparisons simply because it’s another famous, accessible Irish blend.

I’m deliberately not going to tell you which is better yet.

That’s a comparison worth doing properly with both bottles sitting next to each other rather than reading what someone else thinks and pretending it’s my opinion.

Tullamore D.E.W.

Another major Irish blend and another bottle that makes sense if Jameson is your starting point.

Trying Jameson, Bushmills and Tullamore D.E.W. next to each other would actually be a pretty useful way of finding out whether these apparently similar supermarket Irish whiskies taste as similar as they look from a distance.

That’s going on the list.

Jameson Black Barrel

This is perhaps the alternative I’m most interested in.

If I already know I like Jameson Original, moving further into the Jameson range gives me an opportunity to understand what changes when the producer starts doing things differently.

Rather than immediately jumping from a $33 bottle to something completely unrelated and three times the price, I can start with a familiar reference point.

Original tells me what Jameson tastes like.

Now I want to find out what else Jameson can do.

Where to Buy

One advantage Jameson has over a lot of the whisky we’re eventually going to cover on Caskable is that finding a bottle generally isn’t difficult.

It’s one of the world’s best-known Irish whiskey brands and is widely distributed across supermarkets, liquor stores, bars and duty-free shops.

Price is another matter.

Alcohol pricing varies enormously between countries thanks to taxes, import costs, retailer margins and bottle sizes, so I’m not going to pretend there’s one universal “correct” price for Jameson Original.

For reference, I paid $33 for a one-litre bottle.

At that price, I’d happily buy it again.

The important thing when comparing prices is to check the bottle size. A cheap-looking 700 ml bottle isn’t necessarily better value than a slightly more expensive litre.

Whisky apparently involves maths now too.

Fantastic.

Would I Buy Jameson Again?

Absolutely.

Jameson is already one of my favourite supermarket whiskies, so this isn’t a bottle I’m trying for the first time and wondering whether it deserves another chance.

I already know the answer.

What I like about it is pretty simple: it’s smooth, easy to drink and doesn’t require much thought. I can pour it neat when I want to actually pay attention to the whisky, throw it over ice when I want something more relaxed, and neither feels like the wrong way to drink it.

There are obviously more interesting bottles out there, and that’s exactly what I want to explore with Caskable.

But more interesting doesn’t automatically mean I’d rather have them sitting in the cupboard.

That’s an important distinction.

At $33 for a litre, Jameson is the kind of whisky I’ll happily keep buying. It isn’t a special-occasion bottle.

It’s a Tuesday-night bottle.

And I mean that as a compliment.

Final Verdict

Verdict: Buy it. It’s one of my favourite supermarket whiskies for a reason.

Jameson Original isn’t the bottle I’d choose to demonstrate just how complicated whisky can become.

It’s almost the opposite.

It’s familiar, affordable and incredibly easy to drink.

That’s what keeps me coming back to it.

I paid $33 for a litre, I enjoy it both neat and over ice, and the smoothness remains the biggest reason I like it. There will be more complex Irish whiskeys, stronger whiskies and bottles with much more interesting production stories as we work our way through them on Caskable.

And I’m looking forward to finding them.

But I’m also interested in seeing whether those more expensive bottles actually make me want to stop buying Jameson.

Because the question here isn’t whether Jameson Original is the most exciting whiskey in Ireland.

It’s much simpler than that.

Would I actually spend my own money on another bottle?

I already do.

Caskable Score: 8.1/10
Value: 9.0/10
Would I buy it again? Absolutely.