Teeling Single Malt

For their first own produce we’ll have to wait a few more years, but that shouldn’t stop us from sampling some of stuff they ordered from other distilleries. They should be a perfect representation of what the owners are trying to achieve for their own future line, not? They seem to have been bitten by the same bug as some of their Scottish competitors, relying heavily on wood finishes to give their NAS that extra nudge. However these boys from Dublin have taken it to a whole new level: one cask finish?, that’s preposterous, let’s make it five! Five wine-cask-finishes including Sherry, Port, Madeira, White Burgundy and Cabernet Sauvignon, let’s hope they didn’t smother the spirit.

---

Description: originating from either Bushmills or Cooley, treated with five different wine cask finishes and bottled at a generous 46% ABV level.

Nose: oh it is one of those soft Irish noses, the obligatory fruit salad: green apples, grapes, charentais melon, fresh wood scrapings, softsoap and powdered sugar

Mouth: thick body, quite coarse and drying on the palate. I think I describe it best as dried figs coated in cinnamon and white pepper, poured over with lemon syrup.

Finish: short and mainly cinnamon driven, but also a hint of port and mouth-drying oak tannins.

---

Verdict: Yet that same imbalance that seems to plague all Irish whiskey, soft nose, cursory finish, yet a powerful palate. Overall it is a strange concoction of different flavours, but obviously not by grace of the spirit. These are just traces of the large variety of wines that were mixed in with a rather young spirit. It’s the whiskey equivalent of a microwaved three course dinner.