Five Farms Irish Cream Liqueur 70cl

Most Irish creams are made at scale and taste like it. Five Farms took the opposite route: it's the world's first farm-to-table Irish cream, and it drinks like a product someone actually cared about.

The cream comes from five family-owned dairy farms in County Cork, and it's blended with triple-distilled Irish whiskey within 48 hours of collection, in single batches rather than one endless run. It's bottled at 17% ABV and, notably, carries around ten times the whiskey of a typical Irish cream, which is why it tastes less like sweetened dairy and more like a proper spirit-led liqueur. It picked up a 97-point Chairman's Trophy at the 2018 Ultimate Spirits Challenge, the highest score an Irish cream had ever received there.

The nose is butterscotch, caramel and vanilla bean. The palate is genuinely rich, dulce de leche and fresh cream up front, then a run of coffee, coconut and bittersweet chocolate, before a clean whiskey finish cuts through the sweetness and stops it feeling heavy. That whiskey backbone is the whole point.

Pour it over ice after dinner and it's a treat in its own right. It lifts an Irish coffee, drowns happily in cold brew, and turns a simple hot chocolate into something for grown-ups. At this price it sits above the supermarket standard, and the quality of the cream and the whiskey ratio justify the step up.

How to Serve

Serve well chilled over a couple of ice cubes in a short tumbler, or straight from the fridge. It also stirs beautifully into hot or iced coffee. Keep it refrigerated once opened.

Where to Drink It

Boisdale is a fine spot for an after-dinner cream over ice with live music. Dukes Bar in St James's does quiet, classic nightcaps. The Connaught Bar will happily fold it into a dessert-style serve.

Food Pairings

Lovely alongside a sticky toffee pudding or a wedge of dark chocolate torte. It also flatters a simple affogato.