Teeling Single Grain
$66.99
This Single Grain Irish Whiskey from Teeling Whiskey Company was fully matured in California red wine barrels before being bottled at 46% ABV. This whiskey was awarded "World's Best Grain" at the 2014 World Whiskies Awards. 2016 Day 11 Whisk(e)y in the KWM Whisky Advent Calendar.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: double caramel corn, brandy filled chocolates, silky honey and pure vanilla extract; soft earthy tones, crisp but gentle spice and subtle leather; easily identifiable as a grain whiskey, but not sharp or rough.
Palate: huge caramel notes, butterscotch and creme brule; more caramel corn, white chocolate and mixed berries smothered in whipped cream; fruits become darker and more jammy, with more crisp but delicate spice and soft leather; waxy Strawberry Twizzlers.
Finish: light but long; warming and full of character: more berry fruits, Straberry Twizzlers and slowly fading spices.
Comment: this is probably the most unusual whisk(e)y in the 2016 KWM Whisky Advent Calendar, but it is very pleasant and full of character. An unusual grain!
Producer's Tasting Note
Nose: Spice and fruit notes mingle with an underlying sweet nose.
Taste: Strong spice at the start developing into lush red berries and grapes, with drying tannin effect at the end.
Finish: Dry finish dominated by wood and spice.
Jameson Gold Irish Whiskey
$109.99
This is a blended Irish whiskey, triple distilled with a high proportion of pot still whiskey, and the rest grain. The distillery decribes the casks used to mature it as Grade "A". Bottled at 40%.
Glendalough 7 Year Irish Single Malt
$78.99
The number 7 is not just lucky, it is also special to the Irish town of Glendalough, founded as his city of 7 churches. Before doing so he spent 7 years in the wilderness, experiencing all 4 seasons, 7 times, just as this Irish Single Malt has. There are 7 silver crosses on the label, one each for its years and the churchs of the town who's name it shares. The whiskey is rumoured to have come from the Cooley distillery. Matured in Ex-Bourbon and bottled at 46%.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: very soft, perfumed and fruity; it is incredibly soft with Wine Gums, chewy malt and lots of lemon.
Palate: still fruity and perfumed, lots of cream, soft oak, vanilla, marzipan and more Wine Gums.
Finish: long, toasty and malty, it retains its softness, is coating and sugary.
Glendalough 13 Year Irish Single Malt
$139.99
Although most Irish whiskey today is blended, the first Irish whiskies were single malts. Even Pot Still whiskies only came about as a means to avoid paying taxes in the 1800s. This single malt, rumoured to have come from Cooley distillery has been matured in Ex-Bourbon casks and was bottled at 46%.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: nutty and honeyed, some light leather and a touch cheesy with white fruits and lemon.
Palate: very sweet and honeyed, peppery and drying, very herbacious; lots of lemon, more soft leather with vanilla and peach; pan seared apple and poached pear with building licorice and fennel.
Finish: drying, malty, soft and fruity.
Teeling Single Malt Whiskey
$71.99
This single malt is produced from the legacy stock the family took after selling their first distillery, Cooley, to Beam Global (now Beam Suntory). The whisky has no age statement, but consists of whiskies of different ages, the oldest of which were laid down into oak in 1991. The whisky is matured in American oak but finished in five different wine casks: (Sherry, Port, Madeira, White Burgundy, Cabernet Sauvignon). The whisky is bottled at 46% without colouring or chillfiltering.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: clotted cream of fresh baked scones and vanilla icing sugars; white fruits and citrus, toasty and honeyed with almonds.
Palate: creamy and very honeyed, more clotted cream on scones and vanilla icing on white cupcakes; still toasty, a touch of white pepper, more citrus and white fruits with some honeydew melon; soft and malty with a hint of licorice and dark fruits.
Finish: long, malty citric and sweet.
Comment: a very pleasant malt, youthful but complex and eminently drinkable.
Distiller's Tasting Note
Nose: Vibrant with notes of melon, figs, toffee and lemon.
Taste: A balance mix of dry fruits, citrus, vanilla, spice and cloves.
Finish: Long with sweetness in harmony with dry tannins from the wood.
Midleton Barry Crockett Legacy
$174.99
Released to mark the 47 years of service that Barry Crockett gave to Irish Distillers, who retired in 2013 as Master Distiller. Barry is aid to have aidded in the blending of this single pot still whiskey himself.
The whisky is a mariage of light, medium and full bodied pot still whiskies up to 25 years of age. The whisky was mostly matured in American oak with some of it matured in virgin oak.
Writers Tears Cask Strength
$174.99
The rare cask-strength edition of Writers Tears! "It was said that when Irish writers cried, they cried tears of whiskey. Yeats, Kavanagh, Joyce all had their favourite watering hole where they frequented looking for inspiration…the type of whiskey that was drank back then was an old pot still Irish whiskey and with Writer's Tears, we have created that old age recipe again. Writer's Tears is a salute to the great Irish writers of not only this generation but of bygone years," according to the team behind Walsh Whiskey in Ireland, which makes Writers Tears.
Tyrconnell Irish Single Malt
$41.39
A brand steeped in history and heritage Tyrconnell dates back to the glory days of Irish whiskey. Traditionally, most Irish malt has been used to create blended Irish whiskey so it is rare to find Irish malt whiskey bottled in its purest form. This pure pot-still single malt whiskey uses only barley and fresh spring water. The resulting whiskey then matures in oak casks stored in 200-year-old granite warehouses, allowing it to develop its full flavor and character.
40% ABV
Liquid Sun 2003 Irish Single Malt 11Yr
$144.99
Exclusive to KWM, we have just 12 bottles of this independently bottled Irish single malt coing into the store. Distilled in 2003 and bottled in 2014 after 11 years at 53.7%.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: creamed honey, marmalade, muddled brown sugar, soft toasted oak, cooked pineapple and loads of other fruits; exotic jams, the oak is toasty with malt and salted Spanish almonds.
Palate: round, creamy and very malty, the whisky is decadent, fruity and toasty; loads of orange, more cooked pineapple, exotic jams, honey, alomnds and marmalade; dusty grains, cream soda and crisp wood.
Finish: long, coating, toasty and earthy with fennel, clove and creamy fruity oak.