Origin: Dublin (Ireland)
Type: Single Malt Irish Whiskey
Strength: 46%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Bourbon, ex-Carcavelos
Chillfiltered: No
Additional coloring: No
Owner: Teeling Whiskey Company
Average price: € 230.00
Official website: teelingwhiskey.com
Vote: 88/100
After Revival and Renaissance, the young and up-and-coming Dublin distillery is putting its hands back on its rich (and mature) cask stocks inherited from Cooley with a new series, Rising Reserve, which continues the narrative dedicated to the renaissance of Irish whiskey of which the Teeling family is certainly one of the main proponents.
Still aimed at the premium end of the market, this series will comprise five bottlings of the same age with different finishings, with the present one opening the dances at Christmas 2022: initial maturation in ex-Bourbon casks and finishing for five years in ex-Portuguese fortified wine casks (already used for Brabazon 4).
6,000 bottles with a price that is certainly not popular, but after all, one of the distillery’s objectives is also to make Irish whiskey perceived as a distillate capable of producing excellence and rarity on a par with, if not more than, its Scottish cousins.
Tasting notes
I never dwell on the colour of whiskey, but this time I cannot help noticing a curious Terra di Siena Bruciata nuance in the glass.
The nose is very elegant, with a soft, warm tapestry of wax and honey that welcomes a compote of cooked fruit (pears, plums, apricots, blackberries), caramel, shortbread and candyfloss. An acidic vein, between citric and pineapple notes, permeates the aromas, while an impression of an old Barbour jacket appears along the length. Full of charm.
The palate has a good body, with a light spicy attack (cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper) that introduces a more decisive fruit, where red fruits (blackberries, blueberries) prevail over pear, plums and pineapple, with citric notes put in the background. Roasted, coffee and nuts evocations intertwine with vegetal impressions that are just hinted at in the background, while the tannins make themselves felt along the length, with a hint of wood from a Caribbean humidor.
The finish is long and persistent, spicy, where the thread of baked fruit with sour traits, coffee, nuts and wood is picked up.
A refined and in some respects surprising Teeling compared to other bottlings, offering a full and pleasant drink in which the long influence of carcavelos manages to make a clear but not overpowering impression as in the aforementioned Brabazon.