Origin: Dublin (Ireland)
Type: Irish Whiskey
Strength: 51.1%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Sherry
Chillfiltered: No
Additional coloring: No
Owner: Teeling Whiskey Company
Average price: € 90.00
Official website: teelingwhiskey.com
As has been the tradition since 2021, the distillery of the Teeling brothers in Dublin celebrates its anniversaries with a special bottling, the result of the fusion of the two souls of their production: the single malt and the single pot still.
Something similar to a blended whisky, although from a single distillery, which they call a “double cask”, with the two types of whisky aged in parallel (this year in ex-PX sherry casks, among the oldest in the warehouses), then combined in a vatting, limited to 500 numbered bottles.
Single pot still is made from a mix of grains with a minimum of 30% malted barley and an equal amount of unmalted barley, plus a maximum of 10% other grains (a recipe that might soon be reconsidered); in Teeling’s case, they have taken the middle ground by splitting the mash equally between malted and unmalted barley.
Tasting Notes
The intensity of the sherry casks is almost overflowing on the nose, with all the decadence that Pedro Ximénez can deliver: dried figs and dates, blackberries, grape must, maple syrup, cocoa, nutmeg, cinnamon, hazelnut cream, and a copious mold note, between damp wood and wet cardboard. Such swagger is partly tempered by the contribution of the two characters at the base of the vatting, which still manage to cut through this cloak with herbal notes (hay, fennel seeds), malt bread, and cumin.
A very similar journey also happens on the palate, where it starts out like the sherried bomb you would expect: oily, intense and spicy (an excellent choice of abv), then quickly transforms, stepping aside to let the two distillates come through, with a clear preference for the single pot still, leaving its mark on tongue and palate. And here come sliding in herbaceous and vegetal notes, spices, malt, nuts (hazelnuts, almonds, pecan nuts) and again cumin. A base of sesame and honey bar.
The finish is fairly long and warming, enveloping, with sherry notes dancing with those of the distillates, in a closure that is anything but predictable or dull.
Review: The decidedly crowd-pleasing (and risky) choice of PX casks proves successful, albeit with a few flaws since the sherry still takes up perhaps a bit too much space, but the journey is interesting and does not lack personality.
Vote: 87/100