Teeling Single Pot Still, Batch1, 46%

It’s been a long time coming.

Whiskey distillation has returned to Dublin!

I remember visiting the building site that became the Teeling Whiskey Distillery here.

I remember my first visit to the working distillery here.

And I remember drinking their new make Poitin – distilled in Dublin – here.

So it’s a great treat to eventually getting round to tasting their first official whiskey.

All previous Teeling releases are sourced. I’ve enjoyed a fair few of them over the years so this young Single Pot Still has a very high bar to follow – some might say an impossible task – so does it make the grade?

Well – it Smells Like Teen Spirit!

The idea that a just-over-3yr-old Single Pot Still can match the complexity & depth of flavour of malts matured in a variety of barrels for at least 5 years or more – much more in many cases – is frankly ridiculous.

This Single Pot Still is fresh, lively & exuberant.

There’s plenty of sweet fresh fruit on the nose with just a hint of sour new make in the background.

Initially a smooth fruity mouthfeel develops into a dry peppery spice with a good deal of prickly heat.

The dry spices fade leaving a clean tropical fruit finish.

I actually really enjoy it – but it’s hardly an easy smooth tannic laden whiskey of hidden depth & character. It’s a little rough around the edges – nothing a few more years wouldn’t sort out.

Teeling Single Pot Still & Tuath Whiskey Glass c/othewhwiskeynut

But then this whiskey was never meant to be the finished item.

It’s a work in progress to highlight the maturing process – to keep the adoring fans happy – to keep Teeling in the limelight and to earn a bit of return too.

It’s a historical bottling with a release of 6,000 at an affordable price.

It’s presented at 46% – and like all Teeling releases – there is no chill filtering nor added caramel.

A nice touch is the light blue label which mirrors the Dublin GAA colours.

Let The Spirit Of Dublin roll on!

Sláinte

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Irish Whiskey Distilleries Tour

Whiskey Distilleries.

Factories, farms, garden sheds or industrial units in which whiskey is manufactured.

They come in all shapes & sizes.

And they are as attractive to whiskey fans as bees are to honey.

To see them, feel them, touch them & smell them.

To experience the characters & the stories that lie behind them.

And to engage with them in their natural environment whether it be surrounded by fields of barley swaying in the wind, salt laden breezes on the wild Atlantic coast or gently rolling green countryside. The environment that ultimately shapes & molds the whiskey into the wonderful array of tastes & smells of the spirit in your favourite glass.

To this end I thought it would be a worthwhile exercise to try and put together a trip encapsulating all the new, planned & existing whiskey distilleries in Ireland in one big tour.

Logistically & timescale wise this proved to be a bit of a whiskey marathon spaced out over a week – so a game of 2 halves was suggested.

Hit The North is the inaugural first half covering the Irish distilleries north of an arbitrary line from Dublin to Galway.

Look out for my future posts covering how the trip went!

Sláinte.