Teeling Stout Cask Small Batch

Because I am boring and predictable, I present to you three Irish whiskeys through the three-day run up to St. Patrick's Day. Surprise, surprise, surprise.

This is a new expression from Teeling, and they make this with a similar fill/refill/fill-again system like how Kinsip makes their maple whisky. You may know that they finish their blended Small Batch expression in ex-rum casks. They then give those ex-rum casks to the Galway Brewery to make their 200 Fathoms Imperial Stout. Once they bottle their stout, they give the casks back to Teeling where they refill it with their Small Batch, where it sits for six months before bottling, with no chill filtering. This batch was bottled in July 2017.

The colour is a pale straw. Malty on the nose with lemon meringue, toasted oak, wet cardboard (in a good way), India Pale Ale and sage. Granny Smith. Cotton candy. Mandarin orange. Hint of tomato puree, if you can believe it (maybe that's the stout?) Water makes it slightly more savoury, and brings out some Mandarin orange, A very unique nose that I haven't encountered before, very complex.

On the palate we have big spices, citrus, kumquat and light honey. Very creamy. More toasted oak. Buttery. Light ale. Linseed oil. More spice and citrus with water. Very crisp, very bright and very enjoyable.

The finish is peppery with lemon pith and bitter hops (very similar to the finish on an IPA). You definitely get a "beer" vibe from this one, though I would not have pinned it on stout. I like it much better than their Small Batch expression - nice to see more experimentation from Teeling.