Tasted #601: Bushmills 2012 Burgundy Cask

One less commonly known thing is that whiskey distilling started in Ireland. Another fact is that the Bushmills Whiskey Distillery was granted a license to distill in 1608, making it one of the oldest distilleries in the world and certainly in Bushmills, Ireland. Though the town's first distillery didn't appear until 1784, there had been an improvement over the next century.

Triple pot distillation though did not start until the 1930s, following the appointment of Scotsman Jimmy Morrison as a manager to improve the make. Jimmy's triple type of pot still [distillation] was not in use anywhere else. He had come to Bushmills from Mortlach, which may raise the question of similarities? Between the 1930s and the 1970s, the distillery only produced peated whiskey. Fast forward to today, Bushmills makes light, grassy, triple-distilled malt and its original blends. 

So what do you get when you combine the triple distilled malt from one of the oldest distilleries with an approach that sees the use of historically significant casks to finish the malt? How about a rather pleasant and delicious triple-distilled whiskey. This was such when we tasted the Bushmills Burgundy Cask; a release that forms part of a special series created exclusively for The Whisky Club.

Bushmills have produced a three-part exclusive series for the Whisky Club, with the first series, released in 2020 being a 2006 vintage Marsala Cask aka Italian Sherry. The second series followed a 2011 vintage Banyuls Cask, a French Port matured Bushmills.

The Bushmills Burgundy Cask is the third and final release in the Bushmills Causeway Collection 2012. What's unique is that the Burgundy casks have been sourced from Domaine des Hospices, a winery dating back to the 1400s. The Burgundy Cask will also be the first release with Bushmill's new Master Blender Alex Thomas. She has described the release as "one of the best whiskeys that Bushmills have produced to date"

Distilled in 2012, the spirit was first laid down in Bushmills’ trademark Oloroso Sherry and Bourbon casks before being further matured for three-and-a-half-year in Burgundy red wine casks. Bottled this year, this non-chill filtered and non-coloured release has been bottled at cask strength; 51.8% ABV.

The Bushmills 2012 Burgundy Cask - The Causeway Collection (51.8% ABV, 10yo, Antrim, Ireland, A$135 (via The Whisky Club) 

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Nose: The nose is fresh, sweet, and vanilla-laden. There are dried fruits mixed with strawberry jam and some custard apples. 

Palate: The palate builds on the sweetness from the nose with red velvet cake followed by a vanilla and strawberry jam sponge cake. The palate is rich and slowly evolves into notes of spiced toffee apple cake and sticky date pudding

Finish: The finish is long and smooth with spices and tannin remaining for a while longer

Rating: 93/100 (Hendy)

Thanks to Eilis Grainger of Mango Communications and The Whisky Club for providing us with a sample of this Bushmills Burgundy Cask release.

Cheers,
Hendy.

St Pat's Day Whiskies - Tullamore, The Whistler (PX I Love You), The Dubliner, Slane [Tasted: #562 - #564]

St Pat's Day on March 17 has always seen a global celebration of all things Irish and this year is no different. As we all emerge from our prolonged hibernation, we may be wondering what's the best way to celebrate St Pat's Day. Perhaps we might need to re-kindle ourselves with traditional Irish beverages  - Irish whiskies, beers or ciders.

Of the three, the choice is clear for us. Without a doubt, our pick would be Irish whiskies.

To showcase the goodness of Irish Whiskies ahead of St Pat's Day, we joined William Lavelle from the Irish Whiskey Association, Rosie Keane, the Irish Consul-General to Sydney and a number of Irish Whiskey Distillery Reps to explore four Irish Whiskies as part of the Discover (Irish) Whiskies campaign.

To kick off the session, we were (virtually) serenaded by Dan Elliott, an Irish singer-songwriter from Cork, Ireland who had managed to welcome us to the session. He did so rather well, given no whiskies had been drunk at that time and clearly not by Dan as it was pre-breakfast for him.

An interesting fact that was shared at the start of the session was the fact that Irish Whiskies are now growing significantly globally. It was also not lost to me that the session started with William sharing reminding us that Ireland is in fact where whiskey distilling first started and where whiskey got its name. Here we are in 2022 and Irish whiskies continue to be one of the world's fastest-growing categories with significant growth in both emerging markets such as Africa and other mature markets.

As with most Irish whiskies, they are traditionally distilled three times. A distillation process designed to isolate and remove the esters and other impurities. Also, similar to the Scotch, all Irish whiskey is, by law, matured for at least three years, though there are now various methods used by distillers to mature their whiskies. The Whistler (PX I Love You), for example, is initially matured in ex-bourbon casks but finished in ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry casks for 9 months. Compare this to Slane, where after distillation, Slane matures their whiskies in 3 different barrels - virgin oak, seasoned Tennessee whiskey and Oloroso sherry before being blended.

The four Irish whiskies that we explored in the Discover (Irish) Whiskies session were Tullamore D.E.W, The Whistler (PX I Love You), The Dubliner and Slane.

Tullamore D.E.W (The Original)

Tullamore D.E.W just broke 18 million bottles last year, this follows the return of distillation back home in 2014. A tripled distilled and triple blended (single malt, single grain, single pot still) whisky, the original Tullamore D.E.W (DEW) is very fresh, grassy and clean. The palate is light to medium bodied with hints of apple and citrus on the palate and finish. It is quite light and fresh, an outcome of the triple distillation.

The Dubliner Bourbon Cask (40%, Dublin, Ireland, A$47.95) 

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The Dubliner distillery was opened in 2018 and is led by ex-Bushmills Master Distiller Daryl McNally. Their whiskies include the original Dubliner 10-Year-Old single malt, Whiskey & Honeycomb liqueur and a couple of beer cask matured whiskies.

There were actually two Dubliners we explored; the Bourbon Cask and a Whiskey & Honeycomb liqueur. I will go into the Bourbon Cask. 

Nose: The nose is light and crisp, there are apple and pear notes.

Palate: The palate is quite peppery at first but slowly opens up to the vanilla, honey and caramel notes. 

Finish: The finish is full of tannin but there are remnants of honey that is left behind.

Rating: 89/100 

Slane (40%, Boyne Valley, Ireland, A$54.95) 

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Slane Distillery was established by the Conyngham family, a family that is famously connected to the Slane Castle, located by the river Boyne. Brown Forman took over the Slane Distillery project in 2015 before ramping up production in 2018. It initially became popular in America but is now found widely abroad. 

Nose: The nose is light, smooth and creamy. There are apple, cereal and grain notes.

Palate: The palate is elegant, composed. There is vanilla and fudge on the palate with some pistachio in between. There is some heat but it is very much restrained.

Finish: Light, enjoyable and invites you to take another sip.

Rating: 90/100 

The Whistler "PX I Love You Single Malt Irish Whiskey" (46%, Boyne Valley, Ireland, A$89.99) 

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The Whistler P.X. I Love You Single Malt was one of the highlights of the four whiskies in the session. 

The distillery name is aptly named after Peter Cooney, not so much Peter himself but the notion of the whistling antic that Peter would do at the distillery. Peter Cooney, the co-founder and export director of Boann - the company that owns The Whistler would walk around the distillery all day - whistling. 

This particular bottling that we explored is a single malt Irish whiskey that is initially matured in ex-bourbon casks before being finished in ex-PX sherry casks for 9 months. The PX sherry and the influence this fortified wine’s casks had on the single malt Irish whiskey was excellent. The finishing in PX casks has given this particular whiskey, a lot of sherry influence. 

Nose: The sherry-cask finishing comes immediately to the nose. Lots of sweet cranberries, dried fruit, currants, citrus and port-like nose.

Palate: The palate is less sweet than the nose yet still quite fruity. There are dates, cranberries, and lots of vanilla coating the mouth and there is nuttiness and citrus as it lingers on.

Finish: The finish is relatively long and leaves a good drying heat.

Rating: 92/100 

As part of the Discover (Irish) Whiskies campaign, there are a number of articles that have been published- all centred around Irish Whiskies including a food pairing guide and Irish whiskey cocktails recipes. You can find those articles and guides here, Irish Whiskey - Depth and Diversity: https://www.ibec.ie/drinksireland/irish-whiskey/campaigns/depth-and-diversity

Cheers

Hendy

Thanks to the Irish Whiskey Association for having us as part of this campaign.

Teeling "Blackpitts" Peated Irish Whiskey [Tasted #528]

My enjoyment of Teeling Whiskey is well documented on this blog, having first tried their whiskey way back in 2013 (a year after brothers Jack & Stephen Teeling started operations), and many times since - including some incredible single casks from the early 1990s, with their trademark Irish tropical fruitiness.

The thing is, those whiskies weren't actually distilled at the Teeling Distillery in Dublin (which only opened in 2015, a year before the brand's Hong Kong launch), but rather at the Cooley Distillery, which was started by Stephen & Jack's father John, but sold to Beam in 2011. 

Things changed in 2018, when Teeling's Dublin Distillery released their first Dublin-distilled whiskey (Pot Still, which I shamefully still haven't tried), and last year the distillery released their second Dublin-distilled whiskey, in the form of this peated "Blackpitts".

Aged in a mixture of Sauternes (1/3) and ex-Bourbon (2/3) casks, the triple-distilled whiskey takes its name from the area located behind the distillery, previously home to some of the largest barley malting houses in Ireland.

It ticks a lot of the same boxes that Teeling's first "Small Batch" did all those years ago (46%, NCF, well-priced, matured in an interesting mix of casks etc..) but let's see how it tastes shall we? 

Teeling "Blackpitts" (46% ABV, NAS, Dublin, Ireland, $729HKD, $94.99AUD)
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Colour: Light orange straw.

Nose: A lighter, funkier style of peat than your typical Islay peated whisky. Tangy BBQ sauce, white pepper and a slight hint of oak.

Palate: Apple chips, honey toast, peach and subtle pineapple. A delightful funk, with some subtle caramel undertones.

Finish: Fairly short, with some spiced oak and milk chocolate.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 87/100. I enjoyed this - it's an unusual style of peat (no doubt the triple distillation is part of the reason), but with some delicious complementary notes. A great addition to the range.

A big thanks to Teeling Whiskey Co & Summergate Hong Kong for this bottle, which is available for $729HKD from Summergate's Website in Hong Kong.

Cheers,

Martin.

Teeling 24yo heads up a trio of new releases for Australia [Tasted #465 - 467]

Teeling is a distillery that's been featured pretty heavily on the blog in the past, and with good reason. They bottle (and distill) a range of unique, varied and fantastic whisky, and seem to have a knack for clever cask finishing, which was clearly on show with three whiskies that recently showed up at TimeforWhisky.com HQ...

The first probably needs no introduction - Teeling Whiskey 24 Year Old, judged "World’s Best Single Malt 2019" at the World Whiskies Awards (one of the few competitions whose judging process I respect). The whisky spent 21 years in ex-Bourbon barrels, before undergoing 3 years of finishing in ex-Sauternes casks. This is actually the second time we've tasted the 24yo on the blog, with an earlier batch being tasted back in 2016.

Personally, my interest is always piqued when I see a respectable distillery finishing in something (relatively) obscure like a Sauterne cask, as the results can be hit or miss, but I figure with a whisky like this it's much more like to be the former.

The second hits a little closer to home for Aussies. The Teeling 17-year-old Single Malt Whiskey – Jim Barry Shiraz Cask Collaboration sees Teeling finished (for an unspecified period of time) in barrels which previously held red wine - specifically Jim Barry’s 2016 release of “The Armagh” Shiraz, a "Super Premium" Aussie Shiraz retailing for over $300AUD (the whisky itself comes in at only $200AUD/bottle).

Rounding out the trio is another collaboration and another interesting finish - Teeling Whiskey Imperial Stout Cask Finish, a NAS collaboration with the Galway Bay Brewery based on the west coast of Ireland. Described by Teeling founding brother Jack Teeling as a collaboration coming "full circle", the casks used to mature the brewery's "200 Fathoms Imperial Stout" were originally Teeling Small Batch casks. After maturing the beer once, they were then used to mature Teeling's much-loved Small Batch (see here for our review way back in 2013) once again.

Samples of each were kindly sent our way recently, and despite a leakage incident during shipping (impacting the 24yo sample no less!) there was just enough for Hendy and I to each review and give our thoughts. So without further ado...

Teeling Whiskey 24 Year Old (46% ABV, 24yo, Ireland, $600AUD)

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Colour: Rich bright Orange Gold

Nose: Martin: Passionfruit with a dusting of icing sugar, followed by richer notes of maple syrup & blackberry and rounded out with some lemon citrus notes.
Hendy: A strong whiff of pineapple, tropical juice, breakfast cereal or perhaps barley. There is some honey and creamy vanilla mixed on the nose. The nose is light, especially compared with the extremely fruity 17yo.

Palate: Martin: Rich, creamy and mouth-filling beyond what its 46% ABV might suggest.  Passionfruit tart hits you first, then guava, then vanilla essence. There are hints of other tropical fruits (as are so often evident on good Irish drams of this age) - pineapple and kiwifruit. Just a delicious, rich fruity dessert.
Hendy: The palate is velvety and smooth, almost grandeur with layered fruits. The pineapple and tropical juice comes on the palate only very subtly followed by light berries jam. Pop rocks popping candy without the pop (is that possible). The palate is very very creamy, quite viscous and laden with vanilla and subtle hints of those tropical fruits. There's a tiny bit of citrus note that follows & comes through quite late, though the palate remains light and delicate.

Finish: Martin: Long, fruity and slightly smoked. Passionfruit lemon tart, with an almost-burn baked crust, and then some residual oak that hangs on until the end.
Hendy: Very gentle, very long, the fading of the notes is nice and slow and only soft fruity notes linger on.

Rating (on our very non-scientific scale):  93/100 (Hendy) & 92/100 (Martin).

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Teeling Whiskey 17 Year Old Jim Barry Shiraz Cask Collaboration (46% ABV, 17yo, Ireland, $199.99AUD)

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Colour: Orange gold.

Nose: Martin: Fruity! Oranges and passionfruit, then red berries. Slight hints of banana integrate well too. Fruit salad in a glass.
Hendy: The nose is very fruity. There is creamy mango with some bananas and topped with Ribena juice. There's that homemade danish pastry that have been topped with loads of berries. This nose is amazingly delicious.

Palate: Martin: The red berries are the first thing to hit you. Then there are some oats - creamy breakfast oats. Really creamy. In fact, you know those Uncle Toby's Strawberry Yoghurt muesli bars that Aussie kids often had in their lunch boxes as children? Exactly those. Then there's some white chocolate orange slices to round things out.
Hendy: I'm a big fan of tasting what you nose and this expression does not disappoint. The berries come through prominently with some vanilla and creamy mango ice cream. This is a real fun palate and followed by a slight oak bitterness that's there but does not detract from the fruit notes. After a while, the palate gets a little chalky before some spices hit the back of the palate.

Finish: Martin: Long, ever so slightly dry with notes of strawberry chocolate to the end.
Hendy: Dry and long, the sweet notes remain with slight tingly spices, almost like Pop Rocks popping candy (berry flavours). Overall, very enjoyable and very delicious.

Rating (on our very non-scientific scale):  93/100 (Hendy) & 91/100 (Martin).

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Teeling Whiskey Small Batch Stout Cask Irish Whiskey (46% ABV, NAS, Ireland, $79.99AUD)

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Colour: Light yellow gold.

Nose: Martin: In a word (or two): yellow fruits. Pear and peach at first, then some banana.
Hendy: Fruity and sweet, there's fresh honey dew and light citrus notes with quite prominent bright and hop nose.

Palate: Martin: Unusual. There's a hoppy, slightly astringent bitterness, then sweetness, then some lemon coming through, but more like lemon-scented cleaning products (that sounds bad, it's not in reality) and white grapes.
Hendy: Creamy and milky, there's a hint of roast coffee beans mixed with some milk chocolate followed by a subtle bitterness, perhaps more of that hops though the hops does not overtake the palate. The creamy stout profile comes through after a while and the bitterness stays on the palate for a while longer.

Finish: Martin: Short to medium in length, with that hoppy, subtle bitterness remaining to the end.
Hendy: The stout remains and becomes prevalent but it's a nice after taste, almost like the after taste you get after that first sip of a fresh cold lager. This is delicious stuff and is very different to the usual fruity Teeling notes.

Rating (on our very non-scientific scale):  91/100 (Hendy) & 85/100 (Martin). Clearly Hendy liked this one more than me!


Cheers,
Martin..

Tasted #334 - 335: Teeling 13 Year Old "Revival II" and Teeling 24 Year Old Single Malt

We've been pretty fortunate here at TimeforWhisky to try pretty much every major Teeling release that makes its way to Australia, and since it's launch in Hong Kong earlier this year, Hong Kong too.

Teeling has taken off in a big way in Hong Kong this year, and that means more releases for HK, and more opportunities to sample those releases (without Teeling having to send them all the way from Australia, which they've kindly done on several occasions)!

The latest releases to hit the Hong Kong market are the 24 year old Single Malt, and 13 year old "Revival II" (following on from Revival, tasted back in May), both of which I've just tasted this weekend.

Teeling 24 Year Old Single Malt (46% ABV, 24yo, Dublin, Ireland, HK pricing TBC / AU pricing TBC / £220.78 ex-VAT)
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One of 5,000 bottles. Matured in ex-Bourbon barrels and married in ex-Sauternes casks.

Colour: Light copper.

Nose: Dusty, varnish/furniture polish. Leather. All those "old whisky" notes I love! There's also some cherry freshness, candied almonds, and blackcurrants. Lots of blackcurrants! Hugely perfumed - it noses a bit like an old Bowmore, minus the smoke.

Palate: Massively creamy blackcurrant notes. Tropical notes too - grapes, mango. Oily mouthfeel, with lots of wine gum notes coming through after time too.

Finish: Medium to long length, with notes of caramel and wine gums.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 92/100. Probably the most unique Teeling I've tried, and up there with the most enjoyable!

Teeling 13 Year Old "Revival II" (46% ABV, 13yo, Dublin, Ireland, HK pricing TBC / AU pricing TBC / £83.29 ex-VAT)
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Aged for 12 years in ex-Bourbon barrels and finished for 12 months in ex-Calvados casks.One of 5,000 bottles. Matured in ex-Bourbon barrels and married in ex-Sauternes casks.

Colour: Vibrant yellow straw.

Nose: Big tropical fruits - mango, guava. Vanilla and strawberry-flavoured bubblegum. Some green apple.

Palate: Spice and oak initially, then the tropical notes come through - green apple, big pepper and some milk chocolate. The effects of the Calvados finishing are subtle but noticeable.

Finish: Long, slightly tannic (though not unpleasantly so), with some mango and orange chocolate at the end.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 89/100. An enjoyable, easy-drinking and quintessential Teeling...with a twist.

Thanks as always to Teeling Whiskey Co and Summergate Fine Wines & Spirits for the samples.

Cheers,
Martin.

Tasted #287: Teeling Whiskey 15 year old "The Revival"

Teeling Whiskey Co, which we've talked about once or twice (ahem) on this blog before, and which launched in Hong Kong earlier this year, recently launched their new 15yo "The Revival" in Australia. Ahead of a (hopefully) soon Hong Kong launch, we were lucky enough to be given an advance preview tasting (along with some always-appreciated Teeling swag). It was also our first time christening our new TimeforWhisky.com Glencairn glasses!

Teeling Whiskey Co 15 year old "The Revival" (46% ABV, 15 years old, Dublin, Ireland, $159.99AUD / £83.78)

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Colour: Yellow gold.

Nose: Sweet, but not one-dimensionally so. Citrus sweetness. Confectionary sweetness. Umm..carrot juice? Lots of carrots! Corn bread. After a few more goes, some vegetal notes, coconut and even some lemon. Something for everyone!

Palate: Smooth and viscous, and incredibly rich. Sweet demerara sugar, mollases, with an underlying meatiness and hints of sesame and toasted oak. It's intense, but never overwhelming. Very well put together. A hint of sherbert bon-bon lollies, grapefruit flesh, and green papaya.

Finish: Long with a hunt of smoke, a decent amount of oak, chamomile tea and some vegetable juice.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 91/100. Certainly a mixed bag of flavours, but all up very enjoyable.

Cheers,

Martin.

TimeforWhisky.com would like to thank Teeling Whiskey Co for the sample.

Teeling Whiskey launches in Hong Kong

A wonderful thing happened in Hong Kong in late 2015 - something sure to excite many whisky (or more appropriately, whiskey) drinkers. Teeling Whiskey found a distributor, in Summergate Fine Wines & Spirits, making the core range officially available in Hong Kong.

We've written on many occasions about our love of Teeling Whiskey, which stems from a handful of reasons:

• It's interesting - such unique cask finishes and maturation techniques are not often seen in such an accessible lineup of whiskies
• It's excellent value - especially when you consider even the cheapest releases are NCF and bottled at 46% ABV.
• It's brought excitement to Irish Whiskey as a category (and, it seems, kicked off something of an Irish Whiskey revival)
• ...and most importantly, it's just really good whisky. From the very drinkable "Small Batch" to the brilliant 21yo, and 21-23yo single casks bottled for the Japanese market (do yourself a favour and try one if you ever get the chance - we've tried a few and they've all been incredible).

We shared a few bottles (kindly provided by Teeling in Australia) with a group of Hong Kong whisky fans over the past 12 months, and reports were all very positive, so we're excited to see it now readily available throughout Hong Kong.

To celebrate the launch, Teeling's Asia Pacific brand ambassador Martin Lynch visited Hong Kong, for a lunch (held at one of our favourite bars - The Envoy) followed by a tasting with the Consul General of Ireland to Hong Kong & Macau - the very hospitable Peter Ryan.

The events introduced a group of Hong Kongers (including a few Irish ex-pats) to the core lineup - the Small Batch (tasting notes here), Single Grain (tasting notes here) and Single Malt (tasting notes here). At $380HKD, $630HKD and $750HKD respectively (retail prices), the range is very competitively priced (especially when you consider Hong Kong's 100% tax).

At the Consulate General event, Martin talked us through Teeling's history, philosophy, and took us on a a guided tasting, while Peter explained the importance of Irish Whiskey as a category, and introduced us to the new Irish Whiskey Society of Hong Kong.

Afterwards, we all enjoyed a few more drams, nibbled on some excellent Irish produce (cheese, beef, salmon and "Tayto" crisps), and enjoyed a few craft Irish beers, while the braver amongst us sampled the corn and malt-based, unaged, 61.5% ABV "Poitin" (not yet available in Hong Kong). For what you could almost consider to be akin to an unaged, high-proof Bourbon, it was quite smooth and enjoyable.

We're glad to see Teeling has officially made its way to Hong Kong, and can't wait to see what other releases Summergate have in store for us.

Cheers,

Martin.

Tasted #220: Connemara 12 Year Old

Following a recent masterclass at The Wild Rover (home to the CCWC) I took the chance to try and further my whisky passport, a great ploy by the folks at The Wild Rover to get you to try all sorts of whiskies from all over the world.

Having spoken to one of the guys from Dram Full at a recent Irish whisky masterclass, the Connemara came up in the conversation and was described as a peated Irish whiskey that certainly does not fare like a conventional Irish whiskey, nor a conventional peated whiskey. Connemara whiskies, from the Cooley distillery, it was said, have a mild, balanced peated character that subtly presents the peat along with the all the exciting notes that are inherent with the malt.

From the whisky slab, four Connemara whiskies were listed; the Connemara Single Malt, Connemara Cask Strength, Connemara 12yo and Connemara Turf Mor (the Octomore of Connemara -- the 'high peat' expression). Unfortunately, only the Connemara 12yo was available that night with all the other expressions on backorder, so it was off then to try the Connemara 12yo.

Connemara 12 Year Old (40% ABV, 12yo, Kilbeggan, Ireland, $140AUD)
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A great tasting peated Irish whiskey that balances the gentle smoke with creamy, citrus, tropical fruit and spice notes. Not a bad dram to have on any spring night.

Colour: Light gold with a tinge of amber hue

Nose: Deliciously fragrant on the nose with notes of banana, cherry, strawberry, pineapple - loads of tropical fruits

Palate: The palate is clean, creamy with a subtle strawberry note that then develops into a more punchy peppery palate and then the gentle peat finally rolls in.

Finish: Medium to long, dry finish with a lingering Taiwanese pineapple cake note.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 92/100.

Cheers,
Hendy

Teeling Whisky range expands in Australia - Silver Reserve 21yo and Single Malt launched (Tasted #201-202)

We've gushed about Teeling Whiskey Co once or twice (actually a lot more) on this blog, and with good reason - it's the first Irish whiskey that's genuinely gotten us excited about, well, Irish whiskey. Not just because everything they've released so far is:

1. Extremely high quality; and
2. Incredibly good value

..but also because of their interesting use of different finishes. With their core lineup consisting of whisky finished in Flor de Caña rum casks, Sauternes casks, Californian cab sauv casks, and the new (to Australia) Single Malt which receives finishing in five different wine casks, this isn't your ordinary distillery pumping out nothing but Bourbon and Sherry-aged stock.

Now, fancy finishes are all well and good, but they really only matter if the end product is good...and with Teeling, it really is. Their Single Grain is a whiskey I'd happily sip every day, and costs a meager $59.90AUD (not yet available in HK, though that may well change soon). Their "Small Batch" (which we first tried back in 2013) is probably one of the best value whiskies you can find for $52.99AUD, and their 21 year old single malt, well....wow. See our thoughts below.

A trade launch was held in Australia on Monday night, coinciding with the Australian launch of the 21yo ($199.99AUD) and the Single Malt ($79.99AUD). They join the Small Batch and Single Grain which we've previously tried (here and here).

So what makes the Single Malt and 21yo so interesting? As mentioned above, the Single Malt is finished in 5 different wine casks (Sherry, Port, Madeira, White Burgundy and Cabernet Sauvignon) and despite being an NAS whiskey, features malt barrelled in 1991.

The "Silver Reserve" 21yo Single Malt (which contains a small amount of lightly peated malt) was aged for 20 years in Bourbon, before undergoing a 1 year finishing in Sauternes (and we do love a good Sauternes-finished whisky here). Both whiskies (in fact, the whole range) are bottled at a very respectable 46%, are non-chill filtered, and have recently won the "Worlds Best Irish Single Malt" awards at the WWA (the 21yo 2014 and the Single Malt in 2015)

So....our thoughts? Read on...

Teeling Whisky Company Single Malt Irish Whiskey (46% ABV, NAS, Dublin Ireland, $79.99AUD)
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Colour: Golden copper.

Nose: Rich and fruity. Some lighter sherry-style notes (Christmas cake, raisings), but also some fresh grapes and even some strawberries.

Palate: Slight citrus zest at first, quickly developing into a bold, almost meaty palate. Definite berries on the palate too - raspberries I'd say.

Finish: Medium to long, with sweet red berries, fruit cake and a hint of masala-chai.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 91/100.

Teeling Whisky "Silver Reserve" 21yo Single Malt Whiskey (46% ABV, NAS, Dublin Ireland, $199.99AUD)
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Colour: Dark orange copper.

Nose: Massive fruity bouquet. Tropical notes - passionfruit, some cashew, caramel sauce and pineapple sorbet.

Palate: Fruit but with a hint of spice. Sweet pineapple runs throughout, with a moreish nuttiness initially, leading into stronger, spicier notes - almost Tobasco-sauce like.

Finish: Long, lush and sweet. The tropical fruitiness lingers, and is accompanied by some whipped cream at the very end.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 94/100.
In one sentence: "Like a Hawaiian pizza with a hint of Tobasco sauce, followed up by a tropical fruit salad for dessert. Magic." 

Cheers,
Martin.

This week in whisk(e)y #20 - Teeling Whiskey, Boilermaker House, a newway to try Whisky in Australia, Ardbeg Space Aged Tour and TheGlenlivet Founder's Reserve

As you might know if you read this blog regularly, we get a fair few interesting press releases and news articles here at TimeforWhisky, and usually try to feature them with our own spin, experiences or comments. Sometimes though, they come thick and fast, and we just don't have time to do them all justice.

So we've decided to take a leaf out of some other excellent whisky blogs, and feature a "PR roundup" every now and then - basically a wrap-up of relevant press releases we've received in the previous week or so (including other interesting whisk(e)y news Steph, Hendy & or I think you might enjoy). So on with it then...

Teeling Whiskey Distillery officially opens its doors
We've talked about Teeling Whiskey a bit on this site in the past, and found it to be extraordinarily good value, and a perfect example of a "new age" of Irish whiskey distillers (although the company is also selling aged expressions from a previous era of the distillery).

To firmly establish themselves as a distillery that's in it for the long haul, TWC have recently opened a brand new distillery - the first in the city of Dublin for 125 years.

Quoting the press release:

"The Teeling Whiskey Company (TWC) today officially opened its brand new distillery and visitor centre in The Liberties, Dublin. The €10 million distillery is the first in Dublin in over 125 years and the only fully operational distillery in the city at present.

As well as fully functioning distillery, there is a state-of-the-art visitor centre which will host whiskey tasting tours, a café, a bar, a private event space for hire and a gift shop. The visitor centre will officially start taking paying visitors from Saturday, 13th June and will be open from 9.30am - 5.30pm 7 days a week. 

Founded by Jack Teeling in 2012, TWC was set up to revive his family-old trademark of Irish whiskey and bring distilling back to Dublin, where Walter Teeling had a distillery on Marrowbone Lane in the 18th century.  The Teeling Whiskey Company is run by Jack together with his brother Stephen.

The opening of this new distillery means that TWC has complete control of all aspects of its whiskey production, from grain to bottle, so that it can truly lead the category in terms of innovation and build on the company’s ever growing reputation of producing some of the world’s best whiskeys. Most recently, Teeling Single Malt was named ‘World’s Best’ at the 2015 World Whiskies Awards and Teeing Small Batch was awarded ‘Best Blended Irish Whiskey’ at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Irish whiskey is currently experiencing a surge in popularity both at home and abroad and is the fastest growing spirits category in the world. According to an IWSR/Just drinks report*, Irish whiskey is expected to grow by +60% between 2014 and 2019 and it is estimated that 96m bottles of Irish whiskey will be sold globally by 2016.

Jack Teeling, founder and managing director of the Teeling Whiskey Company commented: “Today is a momentous day in the history of our company and something we have been working towards for the last three years. We are delighted to officially open our brand new distillery and bring back the tradition of distilling to Dublin.  We are also looking forward to opening our doors to our first official visitors this weekend and we’re confident that our distillery will become a must-visit destination for tourists to Dublin from all over the world."

For more on the Teeling Whiskey Company and its award winning Irish Whiskeys, visit www.TeelingWhiskey.com"

Boilermaker House opens in Melbourne
We've always been big fans of Sydney's Eau de Vie bar, their sister bar in Melbourne, and in fact most of what Sven Almenning and his team have come up with over the years (including their partnership with Bakery Hill,  their pre-batched cocktails and their own Smoked Bacon Bourbon). So although we haven't been yet, we have no doubt that the latest venture, Boilermaker House in Melbourne's CBD, will be a huge success. With almost 700 whiskies, 12 craft beers on tap and good as well, how could it not be?
As the bar claims....

"Boilermaker House is a whisky and craft beer venue that serves up Eau de Vie standard cocktails, dinner until late and also boasts a meat and cheese bar, all of which are open to 3am every day. WIN!

We have close to 700 whiskies from all over the world on the back bar, 12 craft beers on tap, and another 30 odd in the fridge. And with over 40 varieties of cured meat & cheese, the combinations are endless.

We're open 7days from 5pm, and Thursday to Sunday you can also check us out for lunch from midday."

Boilermaker House is open now and can be found at 209 Lonsdale St, Melbourne.



TheWhiskyOrder.com.au - a new way to try whisky in Australia
Whilst we're not affiliated with this business, nor do we have any commercial interests in the Australian (or HK) whisky scene whatsoever, we do appreciate new or different approaches to whisky appreciation, and one such recent example from Australia is TheWhiskyOrder.com.au, who are offering subscription-based taster packs to open Aussies to new and interesting whisky expressions they otherwise might not get to try.In Steve (the founder's) own words:

The Whisky Order is a whisky sample subscription box that sends out 4-5 unique samples each month. Each month is themed (e.g.; world whisk(e)y, peaty monsters, sherry bomb) and a range of whisky is chosen to give each subscriber an overview of the taste spectrum.

I get a nice tasting mat made each month and try to include as much as possible in the little parcels of whisky goodness. For example last month I worked with Mornington Peninsula chocolates to do a taste paring with some nice chocolates that were included for each subscriber.

www.thewhiskyorder.com.au is the address and they ship Australia-wide.

Ardbeg Space Aged Tour
The Ardbeg team have done it again in pushing the innovation boundaries. A slightly different twist this time around with the preview of a space-aged whisky. Supposedly, after NASA heard about Ardbeg's Supernova, they sent a note to Ardbeg to see if aging whisky in space is an idea worth exploring.

So why send a whisky to space? Apparently to study the effects of maturation in zero gravity.. and also to celebrate the fact that Ardbeg can! David White, International Director of Ardbeg & Glenmorangie explained that the maturation experiment also allowed the study of zero-gravity on whisky terpenes. Dr Bill Lumsden, Director of Distilling, Whisky Creation and Whisky Stocks, who led the research explains:

“Ardbeg is known for taking risks in its development of some of the most coveted whiskies in the world, so it is fitting that it is the first Distillery ever to go into space. We are now close to finding answers to something previously unknown which is truly exciting. We hope to shine new light on the effect of gravity on the maturation process and are very excited to bring the Ardbeg Space Aged Tour to Australia, as one of only ten countries around the world”

The vial of Ardbeg has made its way to space from Kazakhstan, aboard the International Space Station (ISS) from 2011 through to 12th September 2014, spending roughly 3 years in zero-gravity orbit.

Quite a young whisky indeed spending with only a mere three years in zero-gravity maturation though this youngster will be one of the most (if not the most) expensive Ardbeg at €10,000 just for the vial (and that's only for the starting bid for the auction of this space aged vial).

This vial, along with its unique, floating ‘zero-gravity’ display case will be exhibited at Dan Murphy’s, Double Bay NSW through to 16th July 2015. 

The Glenlivet Founder's Reserve

The Glenlivet Founder's Reserve has arrived in Australia and will set to replace the ever-popular and classic Glenlivet 12yo.

Hendy was fortunate enough to attend the launch of this new expression and he will be posting up his thoughts on the Founder's Reserve in the next few weeks. Until then, here's a bit of info on the new expression:

The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve launched in Australia on 1 July 2015, and will become the new, permanent benchmark expression in the brand’s core range.  It has been created as the ultimate tribute to founder George Smith’s original vision to craft the definitive, smooth single malt whisky. The announcement has come in the wake of an unparalleled year of growth for the brand, with new expressions and continued innovation underpinning its success. According to Anne Martin, Marketing Director for Pernod Ricard Australia, “Founder’s Reserve brings to life the heart and soul of The Glenlivet. We are very proud to introduce this new expression during what has been an incredible twelve months for the brand, which will enable us to meet increased demand for super-premium spirits with something unique to offer. The Glenlivet has the largest share of the Australian Single Malt Market, at 26 per cent*.” With Founder’s Reserve, The Glenlivet house style is skilfully complemented with a creaminess and sweetness from the addition of First Fill American oak casks, resulting in a malt of exceptional smoothness; the very quality for which George Smith’s The Glenlivet was widely admired and appreciated in his day. 

The introduction of Founder’s Reserve follows on from the recent historic release of The Glenlivet Winchester Collection, the world’s first collection of 50 Year Old single malt Scotch whiskies. Launched in Australia in October 2014, the collection is anticipated to become one of the most sought after and priceless whisky collections in the world and epitomises the brand’s commitment to innovation in crafted Scotch whisky. 

This newly launched Glenlivet Founder's Resrve will be available in Australia starting from this month, for A$64.99.

Until next time...

Cheers,

Martin & Hendy. 

Dramnation ("The love of whisky") - Hills-based whisky courses in Sydney's North West

Good friend of TimeforWhisky, fellow whisky blogger and all-round nice bloke Matthew Wooler has recently launched Dramnation, which will run whisky appreciation courses based in Sydney's Hills District and surrounding suburbs.

In Matt's own words:

"Dramnation is a business created to impart knowledge about whisky appreciation through the tactical approach of speaker driven presentations, combined with measured whisky tasting samples and sensory exploration. We intend to nurture and focus a growing community of whisky appreciators in the Hills district.  

The Dramnation whisky appreciation course is to introduce individuals into the dynamically expanding world of whisky. Through the 4 part course, each individual will have the opportunity to taste a minimum of 20 whiskies from both the traditional Scotch foundations and new world whiskies. All samples tasted during the course will be drawn from whiskies readily available on Australian store shelves. 85% of all whisky samples to be tasted are valued at below $100AU and the remaining 15% valued at above $100AU. This ration is to ensure we deliver attendees a showcase of quality whisky that can fit an average whisky buyer's budget. Dramnation’s ultimate aim is to instill enough valued information to allow for a confident, educated decision making process when selecting and purchasing whisky at retail liquor chains or individual specialist stores.  

The Dramnation course will be held over 4 sessions of consecutive or alternating weeks. A minimum of x5 15ml whisky samples will be served at each session per attendee. It is intended to also include a small tasting of a beer, sherry, and port to give the link between malt to beer to barrel to finish. Tastings will also be accompanied with a light finger foods of cheese, crackers, mixed nuts, dried fruits, chocolate, with potentially some cured protein. "

Those who have met Matt, or know of him through the Distant Thunder Whisky Club or Dram Full Sydney would know he has a genuine passion for whisk(e)y, coupled with a deep knowledge of the liquid we know and love - facts that will no doubt shine through in the soon to commence courses.

The courses will be conveniently held at Castle Hills Bowls Club (1 year membership to the club included in the course fee), and will consist of four sessions spaced one to two weeks apart. At a cost of $210AUD per course - $52.50AUD per session (with an initial discount available at the time of posting using the discount code DRAM50) each session will focus on a different theme and will typically include:

• Wooden tasting flight 
• x5 stemmed tasting glasses 
• 600ml sealed water bottle 
• Pen and note book 
• Printed basic tasting notes 
• Shared water vial and pipettes 
• Shared finger food platter 

Matt has shared with us a list of the 20 whiskies Dramnation will cover during the courses (not including the "mystery drams" that will also be available for purchase during the courses), and I have to say - they've built an impressive list of quality, but accessible drams. From Small batch Irish whiskies, to classic Speysiders, to Japanese NAS whisky, Islays, Islands, Bourbons and well-aged blends, it's all covered. It's actually a very impressive list and would be sure to give anyone a very solid grounding in the world of whisky / whiskey.

As the photos show, Matt puts a lot of care into everything he does, and we have no doubt these courses will be a huge success (Hendy will hopefully be attending one soon). If you live in Sydney and would like to learn a bit more about whisk(e)y (or you know someone who fits that bill), we recommend you consider booking one of Dramnation's courses, stat.

Cheers,

Martin.

The photos provided for this article belong to Matthew and Dramnation - and just quietly, are stunning.