text:
tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61883002649769911172014-12-19T03:00:10.261ZLiquid IrishA celebration of the native distilled spirits of Ireland; Irish whiskey, in particular.David firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-14957240258271292072014-12-19T03:00:00.001Z2014-12-19T03:00:10.281ZMakers & Brothers Select Reserve Glass
If you're anything like me, you'll be thinking about getting around to buying Christmas presents one of these days. If the intended recipients of those presents are anything like me, you won't need to stray much further than the Makers & Brothers pop-up shop on Dame Lane in Dublin.

I visited the shop recently and several items caught my eye that would delight the spirits drinker.

Select Reserve Whiskey Tumbler

This was the initial draw that lured me to the shop. I met Midleton's Master Blender, Billy Leighton, back in October and he told me some of the qualities in his ideal whiskey glass. He collaborated with Makers & Brothers and The Irish Handmade Glass Company to create such a glass so I was very keen to see how it turned out.

Photo: Al Higgins, courtesy of Makers & Brothers

As it happens, stock didn't arrive till a couple of days after my visit so I haven't laid hands on it myself yet. This is how Makers & Brothers describe the concept and design process:

The project began with Master Blender Billy Leighton, Billy introduced Makers & Brothers to the need for a wide base in a glass to allow for swirling and aerating the whiskey and a narrow opening to focus the aroma. The classic glass of this type is tulip shaped with a small stem, delicate and scientific in its use it almost takes the joy out of what should be a magical moment. Makers & Brothers wanted to keep the key functions but create something a little more modern and everyday.

An everyday whiskey tumbler, sturdy with a form reminiscent of the barrels the whiskey matures in. Truncated to allow for a swirl and a focused aroma but beyond that a simple glass that elevated the drinking experience and was a pleasure to hold with a wide base and a small ridge around its middle.

To develop the idea further Makers & Brothers called on the expertise of the master craftsmen at The Irish Handmade Glass Company, the men responsible for keeping the tradition of mouth-blown glass alive in Ireland. Like all of the products designed at Makers & Brothers, learning about the makers' individual techniques is an integral part of the design process. Makers & Brothers worked with The Irish Handmade Glass Company to turn the prototype moulds from local oak, experiment with scale and refine the details with each new iteration. Every adjustment was the result of fascinating conversations and experiments with glass blowers and cutters down in Waterford.

Each glass is handmade in Co Waterford, on the banks of The Three Sisters River, the home of Irish Crystal. This whiskey tumbler is the result of a strong and respectful partnership between designer, maker and blender.
There is a video of the collaboration.

Price: €40.

Also...

I understand that the Select Reserve glasses sell out quickly when they arrive in the shop but two other Irish glass makers are represented too, J. Hill's Standard and Jerpoint.

I also spied an unusually small, slender, glass water jug with a pour fine enough to deliver the tiniest splash needed to open a reluctant whiskey, and a beautifully-glazed ceramic jug that wasn't quite as petite but would look great at an Irish whiskey tasting.

You may or may not find exactly these items on your visit to the shop as they are artisan products hand-made in small quantities. You are guaranteed, however, to find yourself surrounded by the best of contemporary Irish design. The shop disappears for another year on Christmas Eve, so do drop by over the next few days. (Their website remains online all year round, of course.)David Havelinhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/12/makers-brothers-select-reserve-glass.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-55220820308994107732014-11-20T01:33:00.000Z2014-11-21T09:03:51.935ZWriters Tears & The Irishman Cask Strengths 2014Walsh Whiskey announced this week that Duggan Lynch of Kilkenny will be building their new distillery in Royal Oak. Completion by Spring of 2016 is the plan, though the spirit should already be flowing from late 2015.

The company continues in the meantime to dip into Irish Distillers' warehouses for its Writers Tears and Irishman brands. This year, as usual, we are treated to a new Cask Strength version of each.

They come with very similar descriptions: a vatting of single pot still and single malt, all triple-distilled and aged in ex-bourbon casks. They are non-chill filtered and bottled at cask strength (53% for the Writers Tears, 54% for The Irishman).

I was unable to prise precise details on composition from the company so let's speculate a little. My understanding is that Writers Tears Cask Strengths contain more pot still than malt. This is reversed for The Irishman Cask Strength. From the number of bottles produced I'm going to guess that 9 casks were emptied for the Writers Tears (1,980 bottles), perhaps 5 pot still and 4 malt.

There are more bottles of The Irishman (2,790), which suggests 12 casks - 7 malt and 5 pot still?

Last year I tried the 2013 editions side-by-side and had a definite preference for The Irishman. This year, Writers Tears has it. It's purely a personal preference; others will disagree.

I've had a chance to get to know the Writers Tears quite well, thanks to the kindness of Walsh Whiskey. It's not the oak and vanilla hit I might expect from the bourbon casks. It's a lot more savoury, which appeals to me greatly. The nose is oily. Tarred rope with a touch of eucalyptus. The taste is quite spicy initially but levels out to digestive biscuits. The long finish is reaching for that vanilla and oak but not quite getting there, instead fading out on notes of unripe banana and raisin-like sweetness. There's something else in the mix I can't put my finger on, something vegetal.

I rate the Writers Tears Cask Strength 2014 very highly. It's been both interesting and very satisfying every time I've returned to it.David Havelinhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/11/writers-tears-irishman-cask-strengths.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-3970254936789308242014-10-30T01:07:00.000Z2014-10-30T01:07:13.894ZMidleton Very Rare 30th Anniversary Pearl EditionFor three decades now, Midleton Very Rare has marked the passage of time with an annual vintage release. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the first bottling in 1984, Irish Distillers has produced a very, very rare Midleton Very Rare Pearl Edition. It's a collaboration between Master Distillers present and former, Brian Nation and Barry Crockett, the bottle carrying the signatures of both.

Back in 1984, the new Midleton distillery had been producing for just nine years, so the first Midleton VR was relatively young (the latest edition, in contrast, contains components between 15 and 22 years old). The concept for Pearl, according to Barry, was to ask how that first edition might have developed had it continued to age for 30 years.

Barry Crockett, Master Distiller Emeritus, raising a glass of Midleton Pearl

From the very limited inventory of 30-plus year old casks that Midleton retains, Barry chose a pot still cask from 1984, while Brian selected a grain cask from 1981. These were were then married in a fourth-fill bourbon cask for 6 months. ("Fourth-fill" means the fourth time the distillery has filled the cask. Midleton normally retires a cask after three fills because the wood no longer contributes to maturation. For marrying these two whiskeys, however, a negligible effect from the wood was exactly what was required.)

Evaporation loss over three decades, along with bottling at the cask strength of 53.1%, meant that there was only enough liquid to fill 117 bottles.

Brian Nation, Master Distiller

Introducing the new whiskey at the launch dinner, Barry Crockett likened Midleton Very Rare to a symphony, each vintage being a variation on a theme, with Pearl the closing movement.

Let's riff on Barry's musical metaphor for a while, and see where it takes us. Your regular Midleton Very Rare is a set of gentle variations on a theme of vanilla and toasted oak (contributed by the exclusive use of ex-bourbon casks, mostly first- and second-fill). It's technically accomplished, with all the notes in the right place, but also unassuming, not intruding on the foreground of your attention unless you invite it to. It's a Haydn symphony, such as Lyric FM might stick on outside of rush hour when listeners are less distracted.

Is Midleton Pearl another movement in the same symphony? I'm not even sure it's the same composer. Those extra years in cask have seen out the Classical era and ushered in that of the Romantics. We have added another 30 instruments to the orchestra, doubled down on the strings and filled out the bass staves with room-trembling low notes. We're enveloped in a lushly arranged melody, with emotion and memory prodded by a colourful, dynamic soundscape.

This whiskey leaps from the glass with a rich, deep embrace of the senses. The official tasting notes are below but the age tells on the nose as beeswax or, as Master Blender Billy Leighton put it to me, as polished sideboard. (In our orchestra, Billy is, perhaps, first violin - the leader - ensuring that all instruments are in tune before the music begins.)

The antique character is prominent, but don't think of the mustiness we associate with old pot still whiskeys from silent distilleries. Midleton Pearl is rich and vibrant on the nose and palate.

After a long finish, right at the end, the vanilla and toasted oak theme returns as the music fades away.

You may have guessed that I like this whiskey but you might also fairly suspect me of succumbing to the ambience of the launch event. The whiskey was served in a Waterford Crystal tumbler, after a candlelit dinner prepared by Ballymaloe chefs, in Warehouse No. 8 of the Old Midleton Distillery, in the company of the various Masters. If there is any environment that would predispose one to rave about a whiskey, this is it.

I still claim, however, that it is the finest Irish whiskey I've ever tried. I can't afford the price tag of €6,000 for a bottle but if there had been an option to trade €300 for a second glass, I'd have taken it.

If you do have the means, the 117 bottles (well, 116 now) have been allocated for sale in Ireland, the UK, France, Germany and China (I was amazed to discover that 20 bottles are destined for China).

Naturally the presentation is something rather special. The bottles are handmade by Jerpoint Glass Studio in Kilkenny (I've mentioned Jerpoint before). Each box contains a 700ml bottle and a hand-blown 50ml miniature that allows the whiskey to be tasted without cracking open the larger bottle. (I really hope, though, that Pearl finds its way to people who love whiskey and will drink it.)

The oak cases were crafted in County Wexford, from wood supplied by the Shanes Castle Estate in County Antrim.

Encore

I occasionally taste a whiskey from a long-vanished distillery. It's a bittersweet experience, knowing I can never revisit it, mixed with some guilt for assisting in its extinction. It's likely I won't renew my acquaintance with Pearl either but I'm optimistic that a whiskey just as good, or better, will eventually come my way.

There was a massive clear out of casks in Midleton in the 1980s and early 1990s to allow a fresh start under a stricter wood management policy. As a consequence there is very little in the warehouse that stretches back 30 years. But the pipeline is filling up again.

There have been a succession of whiskeys from Midleton in recent years that have excited me: Redbreast 15yo, Powers John's Lane 12yo, Yellow Spot 12yo, Redbreast 21yo. On the evidence of Pearl, Midleton distillery is just getting warmed up. Not only does its spirit continue to improve as it ages, the recent expansion means it now has the production headroom to relieve pressure on ageing stock. The handful of distillate styles that Midleton was producing in the 1980s has been augmented since then, and the extra capacity will allow a lot more experimentation in that regard.

So I'm not going to think of Midleton Pearl as the final movement of a symphony. Instead I regard it as an overture, a taster of extraordinary delights to come.

Official tasting notes

Nose
The initial fresh herbal notes of crushed garden mint and rosemary, are a testament to the quality of the ex-bourbon barrels in which this whiskey has rested for many years. Soft honey sweetness along with beeswax shows its antique character, while hints of gingerbread combine with toasted oak to compliment some pot still spices.

Taste
The soft silky mouth coating is initially honey sweet, then the fresh herbal flavours follow through with a touch of menthol. The spicy notes concentrate, staying sweet with cinnamon and liquorice before the toasted oak adds to the complexity.

Finish
The succulence of the herbs and spices is very slow to fade.

David Havelinhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/10/midleton-very-rare-30th-anniversary.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-22622963909261609932014-10-23T19:58:00.000+01:002014-10-24T19:59:35.508+01:00The Irish Whiskey Awards 2014
The second annual Irish Whiskey Awards took place in Kilbeggan Distillery last night. I couldn't be there which was unfortunate as I thoroughly enjoyed the first one.

The awards are organised by Ally Alpine of the Celtic Whiskey Shop and judged by the members of the shop's Celtic Whiskey Club and the Irish Whiskey Society. Everything is tasted blind and I know the number of samples participants had to get through was huge so it seems comprehensive too.

The runners-up are listed on the awards website. I mention only the winners below.

Overall Best Irish Whiskey 2014

Redbreast 21 Year Old Whiskey

This doesn't surprise me at all. It's wonderful whiskey. The other whiskeys that stood out for me over the last year were Teeling's 26-year old single malt and the Celtic Whiskey Shop's Cúig.

Irish Single Pot Whiskey

Redbreast 21 Year Old Whiskey

Irish Single Malt Whiskey (12 years & younger)

Jack Ryan's 12 Year Old Whiskey

I haven't tried this one. Clearly I've been missing out. It was made by Teeling for Jack Ryan's pub in Beggars Bush.

Irish Single Malt Whiskey (13 years and older)

Teeling 21 Year Old Whiskey

I thought this category would be Teeling's this year, but for the 26-year old, rather than the 21-year old. Their 30-year old could easily have taken it too.

Irish Blended Whiskey (RRP of less than €60)

Powers 12 Year Old Whiskey

I don't know what was in the running but last year this category was won by Writers Tears, a blend of pot still and malt whiskeys (unlike most blends which include grain whiskey). I'd still be inclined to give the nod to Writers Tears but it's good to mix it up and it'll certainly encourage me to revisit Powers 12yo.

Irish Blended Whiskey (RRP of more than €60)

Jameson Gold Reserve

My favourite of the Jameson range (though I feel I've never given Rarest Vintage Reserve a fair chance; tastes of that are few and far between, however). I can't think offhand of a current blend I'd rate higher than the Gold. (That said, however, I tried a new blend last night that blows the rest out of the water, and most single malts and pot stills besides. More about that in a later article.)

Irish Single Cask Whiskey

Celtic Cask Naoi

This is not even released yet but clearly the panel members were able to try it. Lucky sods. I'll be hoping for a sip at this weekend's Whiskey Live in Dublin.

Irish Cask Strength Whiskey

Redbreast 12yo Cask Strength

I had some only last night. I rate it very highly.

Irish Single Grain Whiskey

Teeling Whiskey Single Grain

When Celtic Cask Trí came out late last year, I speculated that we might finally have enough single grains for a proper showdown. And here it is, in a new category for the awards.

There's a rumour of another limited edition single grain on the way so Greenore and Teeling might face some fresh competition next year.

Irish Poitín

Teeling Whiskey Company Poitín

Jack "Three Gongs" Teeling

Irish Liqueur

Coole Swan

If you think you know what an Irish cream liqueur tastes like, try Coole Swan. And then tell everyone how fabulous it is. It has been around for six years now but the word has not reached most bars and shops. That needs to change.

Irish Whiskey Barrel Aged Irish Craft Beer

Franciscan Well Jameson Stout

I can't think of too many barrel-aged Irish craft beers but I do like the effect of whiskey casks on beer so I hope to see more of our many craft breweries giving it a go.

Irish Whiskey Bars of the Year

Leinster: Palace Bar, Dublin
Munster: Dick Mack's Bar, Dingle
Connaught: Garavan's Bar, Galway
Ulster: Duke of York, Belfast
International: Whisky and Alement, Melbourne, Australia
Overall: Dick Mack's, Dingle, Co. Kerry

This is becoming a very healthy category with 33 nominees from around Ireland and another 7 from the rest of the world.

Of the winners, I have first hand knowledge of just one: The Palace Bar, in Dublin. The Palace has gone further than most to showcase Irish whiskey with their Whiskey Palace lounge, and their house whiskeys, including The Palace Bar Fourth Estate Single Malt and the imminent Three Generations.

Dingle is obviously a bit of a hotspot for whiskey now, with the Dingle Distillery and now the overall Irish Whiskey Bar of the Year, Dick Mack's. I hear good things about the pub from the Irish Whiskey Society vice president, Peter White. He's a Dick Mack's regular and has encouraged and assisted their embrace of whiskey this last couple of years.

David Havelinhttps://email@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/10/the-irish-whiskey-awards-2014.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-89534172960143391022014-10-22T00:28:00.000+01:002014-10-30T01:15:29.332ZJameson Caskmates
This is a fun one. The story begins with a pub conversation somewhere in Cork between Midleton's Master of Science, David Quinn, and Franciscan Well's founder, Shane Long. Shane asked if he might lay his hands on a few spare whiskey casks to age his beer in. He wasn't holding out much hope but it turns out that sometimes all you gotta do is ask. Franciscan Well released its first Jameson cask-aged stout in time for Christmas 2012.

When the most recent batch of twelve casks came back to Midleton, the distillery figured they might as well try their own experimental maturation. The casks had only been used once to age pot still spirit before their stout "seasoning" so there was plenty of oomph left in the wood. They refilled the casks with blended Jameson (at around the normal cask strength of 60% rather than bottling strength of 40%).

After six months, according to David Quinn, they were "shocked" by the transformation. The cask wasn't simply overlaying a beery character on the whiskey. There was something interesting going on, something they wanted to share with the rest of us. Hence Jameson Caskmates, 3,500 bottles of it, at the very generous price of €35.

If you can find it, that is. It all disappeared from the Jameson shop in Smithfield before I could get there. But there are still a few, I understand, to be distributed to various off licences. I'll be trying to bag one of those.

The marketing people took the theme of collaboration and ran with it, inviting artists in various media down to Midleton to absorb the atmosphere and spark off each other. Some of the results are viewable on YouTube: photography / illustration & stained glass / graphic art.

There was a PR launch event last Thursday in Dublin that featured the art work plus live music and a spoken word piece besides. The original collaborators, David Quinn and Shane Long were there to lead us all in raising a glass but there was a sizeable Irish Distillers contingent mingling with the crowd too. They all seem genuinely delighted with Caskmates which must bode well for more small, quick experiments and affordable releases. Midleton never chased the fashion for finished whiskeys but having pulled this one off successfully I hope they are inspired to do more.

David Quinn and Shane Long. Photo courtesy of Burrell Marketing and Publicity.

David Quinn told me they refilled those same casks with more Jameson, just to see what happens. That was only two months ago so it's too early to know how that might turn out.

The partnership with Franciscan Well continues too with a Jameson cask-matured Pale Ale. This one is intended for consumption alongside Jameson whiskey.

Tasting notes

It neither smells nor tastes like a regular Irish whiskey. It took me a few goes to get past the unfamiliar notes but I'm rather enjoying it now. The official tasting notes:

Nose

The initial aroma of freshly mown hay is complimented by a crisp orchard fruit character, green apples and pears along with a twist of lime zest. Mild pot still spices appear, deepening from green tea to hazel nut and milk chocolate. The lingering hop influence combines effortlessly with toasted oak and barley grains to form a solid base.

Taste

As expected, there is the initial sweet mouth coating typical of the Irish pot still whiskey inclusion. Then the effect of the beer cask finish becomes apparent with the subtle touch of hops and cocoa beans. Some marzipan and charred oak add to the complexity.

Finish

Long and sweet with milk chocolate and butterscotch.
David Havelinhttps://email@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/10/jameson-caskmates.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-44388257819510462612014-10-13T00:47:00.002+01:002014-10-13T00:47:54.887+01:00Powers Single Cask Release
In the 22 years it has been owned by the Cleary family, the Temple Bar Pub has built up an extensive whiskey list. It has also developed a strong working relationship with Irish Distillers that culminated recently in the pub's own exclusive single cask, single pot still Powers whiskey. Quite the coup, only topped by having Midleton's Master Distiller Emeritus, Barry Crockett, launch it in Dublin on September 30th.

It's 14 years old, distilled on 6th July 1999. It's the usual Powers pot still distillate, aged in a second-fill American bourbon cask which limits the wood influence and allows the spirit to shine through. The two previous single pot still Powers - the John's Lane and Signature releases - have a small (less than 10%) sherry-matured component that obviously is not present in this new single cask bottling. According to Barry, this is as close as you can get to Powers as it was in the John's Lane distillery days, before production moved to Midleton.

The cask that matured the new Powers is suspended above the bar.

There are 252 bottles, at 46% ABV, individually numbered. In the bar you can buy a measure (for €22.50) or a whole bottle (for €395). As bottles are sold, the price goes up to reflect the diminishing supply.

We are guaranteed more exclusive whiskeys from the Temple Bar Pub because there are two casks filled with 10-year old malt sitting right there in the pub, quietly maturing. I asked owner, Tom Cleary, which distillery they had come from but he's keeping that under his hat, for now at least.

Powers Single Cask official tasting notes:

Nose
Wealth of pot still spices of cinnamon and clove, all softened with a touch of milk chocolate and green tea.

Taste
Initial all spice flavours resolve to spiced honey on a background of hazelnut. A dusting of pepper settling back to a grapefruit finish.

Finish
Lengthy finish with a barley crispness giving way to toasted oak.
David Havelinhttps://email@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/10/powers-single-cask-release.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-34267287527253780672014-10-11T01:15:00.000+01:002014-10-10T01:16:51.408+01:00Glendalough 7-Year Old Single Malt
From Glendalough Distillery - hitherto known for its poitíns - comes this 7-year old single malt whiskey:

Glendalough is still warming up its brand new still so the liquid in this bottle comes from Cooley. It has been double-distilled and aged in first-fill ex-bourbon casks. It is unpeated and bottled at 46%.

There are about 5,000 bottles for the Irish market, retailing between €47.50 and €50. Look for it in good independent off licences.

Also due from Glendalough before Christmas is a small volume of a 13-year old expression and their first seasonal gin. If you follow Glendalough on Twitter you will have seen the fruits of their foraging expeditions in Wicklow - botanicals for an autumn gin. I'm really looking forward to trying that one.

Official tasting notes for the 7-year old single malt:

Nose
A smooth and sweet premium single malt Irish whiskey with a touch of spice and more than a hint of citrus fruit… Lemon touched with vanilla ice cream. Fresh floral notes like meadow flowers.

Taste
Silky smooth palate with the citrus fruits to the fore and just enough spice to keep it interesting, followed by the beautiful malt and oak which mix wonderfully as the warmth expands through.

Finish
Oaky, sweet and lingering - everything you'd expect from the perfect sipping whiskey.
David Havelinhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/10/glendalough-7-year-old-single-malt.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-37544146703082109152014-10-10T00:27:00.000+01:002014-10-10T00:27:09.589+01:00Connemara 22 Year Old
The Kilbeggan Distilling Company (formerly Cooley) has released a 22-year old Connemara, the oldest to date. The age would suggest it was distilled in 1992 so it's about as old as a Connemara could be (according to my notes, Cooley first distilled peated malt in 1991).

It's bottled at 46% and limited to 333 9-litre cases (something a little over 4,000 bottles, then). Most of these will go to Ireland, the UK, Germany and France. In Ireland it retails for about €170.

I haven't tried it and there were no official tasting notes but the Celtic Whiskey Club sent samples out to its members for a Twitter tasting last night. These are the club's own impressions:

Nose
Some gentle smoke, then tropical fruit, baked apples, oak, sweet lemons and sack cloth. Quite powerful.

Taste
Powerful with nice smokiness at full strength. Bittersweet fruit flavours, sappy oak with some vanilla, toast, cooked apples and spice.

Finish
Some nicely sooty/dry smoke, pencil shavings and oak.
David Havelinhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/10/connemara-22-year-old.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-46208601415631478602014-10-09T00:46:00.000+01:002014-10-09T23:51:43.462+01:00Irish Distillers ArchiveThere was one other course module at the Irish Whiskey Academy that I didn't touch on in that article. We settled into the comfy chairs around the Academy fireplace to hear a presentation from Midleton's archivist, Carol Quinn.

In 2013, the historical records of Irish Distillers, incorporating those of predecessor companies Jameson, Powers and Cork Distilleries Company, were brought together for the first time. They were housed in a disused part of the Distiller's Cottage fitted with five temperature- and humidity-controlled strongrooms.

The archive has several important functions, including:

To identify and protect trademarks and brand names, and to supply legal evidence when these are threatened.

To feed into marketing programmes and brand development.

To act as a repository for corporate memory and experience.

By way of example, Carol fleshed out the career of Paddy Flaherty for us, drawing on payroll and other records. I have to confess, I thought that the story of Paddy Whiskey being named for a flamboyant Cork Distilleries salesman was apocryphal, another example of Irish whiskey marketing stretching historical fact.

But there he was, Paddy Flaherty, from appointment to retirement, leaving a trail in company files that spoke of blown expense accounts, frustrated wage ambitions and, finally, a brilliant coup that saw him paid his salary until the end of his days. Here, from 1913, is his signature on the document signing over the use of his name for Paddy Whiskey:

Paddy Flaherty's signature.

This documentation informed the design of packaging for last year's Paddy Centenary Edition.

The archive held a particular and unexpected bonus for me. I mentioned to Carol that my great-grandfather had worked as a cooper in Powers Distillery of John's Lane in Dublin and, miraculously, she was able to produce a photograph of him:

Coopers at Powers Distillery, Dublin, in the 1920s. Photo courtesy of the Irish Distillers Archive.

That's my great-grandfather, John O'Reilly, in the front row, on the right.

I usually nominate Powers John's Lane Release Single Pot Still as my favourite whiskey. I can't see that ever changing now!

I'm immensely grateful to Carol for taking the time to surface this piece of family history. Because of previous articles I have posted on coopering in Dublin, I am occasionally contacted by people trying to trace ancestors in that profession. The recently-established archive at Midleton is not yet open for full public consultation as the collection is still being catalogued. Nevertheless, the archive does try to help with tracing family records, where possible.David Havelinhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/10/irish-distillers-archive.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-4046169690118548452014-10-08T06:17:00.000+01:002014-10-09T00:52:56.250+01:00Irish Whiskey AcademyI've been scribbling in this space now for seven years. My enjoyment of whiskey goes back a lot further but my early drinking career was marred by a shameful lack of curiosity about the contents of the glass. When I eventually stirred into action, I found solid information on Irish whiskey hard to come by.

This blog represents the slow accumulation of knowledge gained from seven years of tastings, reading between the lines of press releases, stalking those in the know at rare public appearances, getting a night job as a cleaner in Midleton (no, wait, that's the plot of Wall Street). Piecing together what is going on behind the distillery gates has been an exercise akin to Kremlinology.

If only the Irish Whiskey Academy had existed when I was starting along this road. I could have downloaded all of that hard-won knowledge into my noggin in just two days.

The Academy was launched by Irish Distillers in early 2013 to educate employees, members of the drinks trade, media folk and whiskey connoisseurs on the craft of making Irish whiskey, as practised at Midleton. It occupies the renovated Mill Manager's House, dating from 1794, right on the boundary between the old and new Midleton distilleries.

The Irish Whiskey Academy, with the new Midleton Distillery looming behind.

I was recently invited to spend two days at the Academy which was quite the thrill.

Our instructor, David McCabe, took us for a quick spin through the old distillery to set the scene. It was both a wonderful reminder of our industrial heritage and a first pass over the whiskey-making process, which hasn't changed all that much in centuries.

The old Midleton Distillery contains what is, apparently, the largest pot still in the world.

The recently restored 19th Century A1 warehouse with casks of maturing pot still whiskey.

On we went to the Academy building, the interior of which overflows with fun detail. There are flavour descriptors carved into the edge of the tasting room table. The metalwork on the whiskey cabinets depicts drops of whiskey, bottles, barley and cask ends. The bar is like a printer's block of reversed type, ready to ink vintage labels.

The Academy bar. Photo courtesy of the Irish Whiskey Academy.

Immense imagination and care has likewise gone into the teaching materials. Since this is a single-topic school, the blackboards come pre-loaded with neat, indelible diagrams of distillery kit that can be chalked over by the instructor.

Our instructor, David McCabe. Photo courtesy of the Irish Whiskey Academy.

The maturation story is beautifully etched onto sliding oak panels.

The chalk-and-talk sessions were short and punchy but attention never got a chance to wane anyway as we constantly relocated within the building depending on the task at hand. Besides the classroom, there is a lab, a bar, a tasting room and a fireside area with comfortable chairs.

After covering pot distillation, for example, we moved over to the lab to see distillation on a small scale and to sample spirit before and after ageing.

The lab.

Later, after a module on column stills, we decamped to the tasting room to work through the Jameson range which relies on the output of those stills.

The tasting room.

David McCabe imparts the intricacies of the production process with fluency and charm. It's clear that his knowledge extends well beyond the material he has time to present to us, and he fields questions easily. I particularly appreciate that nothing was concealed from us or dumbed down. We genuinely learned how whiskey is made at Midleton. (Of course there are certain things that nobody in Irish Distillers ever discusses, like future products, or the exact percentages of this or that in the recipe for a particular whiskey.)

It would be crazy to attend class in a distillery without casting an eye over the plant itself. And so off we went to view the grain delivery, the cooperage, the brewhouse, the fermenters, the control room, the stillhouse, the filling line and a warehouse stacked high with casks. Along the way, we met Midleton's various "masters", or at least those who were not on the road turning the world onto Irish whiskey.

Master Cooper, Ger Buckley, demonstrated the various coopering tools and dismantled a cask before building it up again.

We met Master Distiller, Brian Nation, in the Garden Stillhouse. Photo courtesy of Irish Distillers.

We tasted from various casks in the company of Master of Maturation, Kevin O'Gorman

When we had absorbed all that Dave and the masters could impart, it was time for us to create our own whiskeys. Starting from the various components that make up Jameson Black Barrel, we were invited to combine them according to our own preference. We produced a number of blends, a couple of which were gorgeous, a couple of which were not. The variation possible in finished product from such a limited palette was remarkable.

We blend our own whiskeys, taking away a small bottle of something truly unique.

I'm not new to Irish whiskey, nor was this even my first visit to the Midleton plant. But I always have more questions. For example, before this trip I had idly wondered:

What does wash (i.e. the result of fermentation, before distillation) taste like? (We had a sample of this and it was quite drinkable.)

What is the difference between spring barley and winter barley?

Why do some column stills (like that at Midleton) have three columns rather than two?

I got answers to all these at the Academy but I know if I repeated my two days there that I would notice new things, generate fresh questions.

That two days, by the way, is the Enthusiast Package, and costs €1,199. It includes all local transfers, one night's accommodation (at the rather plush Castlemartyr Resort Hotel), a hosted evening at a premium restaurant (for us this was the fabled Ballymaloe House) and lunches at the Midleton Distillery visitor centre restaurant (which were outstanding). Attendees are also presented with a most marvellous and highly technical book containing the course material and more. It is not obtainable by any other means.

There are shorter experiences available starting at 2 hours for €59.

For more views on the Academy and the course, some of my classmates have written up their own experiences:

Jim Coleman

Chris Hoban

Stuart McNamara

Jake Mountain

Femke Tijtsma Sijtsma

David Havelinhttps://email@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/10/irish-whiskey-academy.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-73032336521405621902014-09-28T21:03:00.001+01:002014-09-28T21:11:24.928+01:00Tullamore Distillery"Uncle Charles chose the path of greatest resistance." So said Peter Gordon, CEO of William Grant & Sons, last week at the launch of their new Tullamore Distillery. He was recalling a trip with Charles Gordon around Ireland to assess possible locations for the distillery that would supply their Tullamore Dew brand. There were suitable sites, and then there was Tullamore, boggy underfoot and lacking a rather essential ingredient: water.

Peter Gordon, CEO William Grant & Sons

William Grant & Sons is a family-owned company whose statement of values commits to "long-term thinking". Despite the daunting shortcomings of the Tullamore site, it was perhaps an easy choice for a company that can draw on a century and more of experience, and imagine itself looking back to this moment from a century hence. Expediency has preserved the Tullamore Dew brand in recent decades as it bounced from distillery to distillery, owner to owner. But 60 years after distillation ceased in Tullamore town, the Gordon family has brought it home.

Any problems were rendered trifles by the application of €35m and 1,200 distillery engineers and construction workers. 250,000 tonnes of spongy peat and soil were excavated (and redistributed to become the rolling landscape around the distillery) and 2,300 piles were sunk. Offaly County Council solved the water shortage by laying a 14km pipe from the Slieve Bloom Mountains. On September 17th, 2014, a mere 20 months after planning permission was granted, construction was complete, the stills were hot and hundreds of invited guests watched as the spirit flowed.

Not only was the build completed on-schedule and on-budget, they even brought forward some construction from Phase 2, not originally due to commence until 2019. That includes the section with the three pagoda roofs in the photo above, known as "Distillery House". (You can click on all photos to enlarge.)

The main building is a strikingly hefty presence in fairly flat and open countryside, but is visually broken up horizontally and vertically by clever detailing. Cues were taken from old distillery buildings around Ireland, echoing here in the small windows and brick lintels, for example.

The Tullamore Dew visitor centre in Tullamore town inhabits a late-19th Century bonded warehouse belonging to the original distillery. Observe the brick window surrounds and compare to the large arched windows in the new distillery that frame the copper stills.

Tullamore Dew Visitor Centre

Note the brick detailing, copper finials, Spanish slate roofs and yorkstone walls, rough-hewn at ground level and dressed above.

The new building diverges from its forebears most obviously in its colour. That's yorkstone, less porous than native stone. Yellow sandstone is very unusual on a traditional industrial building in this country, though there is a light sprinkling of it on Dublin city streets, most notably, perhaps, on the Irish Whiskey Museum. It's warm and cheery, and they say it will look just as good in a hundred years' time.

Let's take a look inside. Distillery House - the bit under the three pagoda roofs, recalling the malting kilns of yesteryear - is where VIP visitors will be shown a good time, besides housing some administrative functions. This is the bar, on the first floor:

I'll have a, umm... Tullamore Dew, please. That's Ewen Cameron, Engineering Manager, at the end of the bar.

At the far end is the blending room, lined with cabinets full of cask samples, for serious product development work, and for hosting tastings.

One floor up and it's fine dining and comfortable lounging, accessorised by antique bits and bobs. They were still working on this as I passed through. I reckon they could warm it up with a few big old Persian carpets.

This level is directly under the pagoda roofs, which are exposed internally to reveal their traditional wooden construction.

Along one wall stretches a heavy, wooden screen concealing a view that drew gasps from our group when it was revealed, the gleaming industrial facility through the picture window a startling contrast to the wood panelling and antiques of our surroundings.

The shiny brewing and distilling floor has been decluttered by hiding services below, at ground floor level. A clear path leads visitors through the process of making whiskey. Let's take a look from the other side of the glass.

Mash conversion tun

The little window on the left of the photo above overlooks the grain mill, a Variomill conditioning wet roller. It's a wet process because the unmalted barley included in the mash for Irish pot still spirit is exceptionally hard and must be softened before it's crushed.

In the mash conversion tun, the milled grain is mixed with hot water. Enzymes in the malt convert the starch to sugar.

Pegasus C lauter tun

In the lauter tun, the sugary liquid (wort) is separated from the spent grain and goes on to the next stage, fermentation. A weaker solution of sugar is flushed out with additional water, stored in weak-wort tanks and used for for the next mash, so as not to waste any sugar.

Weak-wort tanks

There are six 34,000 litre fermenters, with room for six more. With the addition of yeast, the sugar is converted to alcohol in these vessels over three days.

Fermenters

The result is a beer, or wash, of 9.5-10% ABV. Now we are ready to distil.

Pot stills. L-R: low wines, spirit, pot still wash, malt wash

The spirit for Tullamore Dew is distilled three times, in three different stills. The first is the wash still, followed by the low wines still, then the spirit still. At each stage the alcohol concentration climbs, ending up between 80% and 84% ABV.

You will notice there are four stills in the photo above. That's because there are two wash stills. Which one is used depends on whether malt (from malted barley) or pot still (from a mix of malted and unmalted barley) spirit is being made.

Note the offset neck of the wash still in the centre of the photo above. The shape of this pot is based on the still pattern used at the original Tullamore distillery that closed in 1954. Those stills ended up at Kilbeggan distillery where they can be seen today, though they are not in use. Note the similarity in shape:

The original Tullamore pot stills, now at Kilbeggan distillery

There is space beside the malt wash still for two more stills. These will duplicate the low wines and spirit still so that malt and pot still spirit can be made in parallel. When that's done, production capacity will double from 1.84mla (million litres of alcohol per annum) to 3.69mla. The plumbing for this is already in place so it's a small enough upgrade that could be in place by 2018.

Malt wash still, with space for two more stills

John Quinn, Global Brand Ambassador for Tullamore Dew, is adamant that the taste of Tullamore Dew won't change when its spirit is made on these stills, rather than on those at Midleton. I asked Brian Kinsman, William Grant's Master Blender, if he would be able to achieve this. Even though they were still dialling in the stills and hadn't started with the pot still mash, he didn't foresee any difficulty achieving the flavour profile required by, for example, adjusting boiling rates and cut points.

(I'm sure there are many of us who plan to keep by a bottle of today's Dew to compare with future versions to see if they pull this off.)

It's worth an aside at this point to note that "Dew" is not part of the name of the distillery. The Tullamore Distillery will make Tullamore Dew but other styles of whiskey under other brands are possible. I look forward to tasting the best whiskeys that this new kit can produce.

The William Grant company has an unusual tradition when commissioning a new still. Their coppersmith, Dennis McBain, insists on "sweetening the still" by boiling water in it, along with a bunch of juniper. This happened in Tullamore in August. Nobody knows where or why the tradition began. Dennis is the longest-serving Willam Grant employee, having started in 1958, and he picked it up from a predecessor.

A feature of most still rooms is the spirit safe. The condensed output from each still passes through the safe and can be diverted to various receiver tanks. The idea is to allow only the middle - and best - part of each distillation to proceed to the next stage. Like the pot stills, the safe here was made by Forsyths of Scotland.

Spirit safe

Unusually, it is triangular in shape. This is a reference to Tullamore Dew's triple-distillation and also its triple blend recipe of pot still, malt and grain whiskey.

A control room and lab sits adjacent to the still floor. The level of automation is such that the whole distillery can be run by just 14 people (most recruited locally). Remarkable.

Behind the main building are various receiver tanks and grain silos...

... and a pipeline to the filling store:

The filling store. Don't worry, that's not spirit soaking the floor, just water.

Conveyors will be added later to move the casks around the store. From there, casks go to a warehouse to rest for a few years.

Warehouses

There are currently two warehouses built, with planning permission for eleven more. Each can hold 55,000 casks.

In a nice touch, the first casks to be filled have been circulating around Tullamore pubs to be signed by locals. More casks were signed by guests at the launch last week.

Cask staves signed by guests

The distillery is up and running now, though tweaking continues. It can produce pot still and malt spirit but not yet the third component of Tullamore Dew, i.e. grain spirit. That's a lighter spirit made in a column still rather than a pot still. Planning for a grain distillery is already under way. A visitor centre and cooperage are coming too, along with more warehouses.

It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.
- Roy Disney
William Grant's values are written all over this project. The fit and finish of the construction and landscaping is superb, no doubt intended to reflect the quality of the craftsmanship within. I am not all that familiar with Grant's non-Irish portfolio but I had a chance to work through some of it during my visit to Tullamore, sampling Monkey Shoulder, Grant's Family Reserve, Glenfiddich 18-year old and Reyka Icelandic Vodka. They were uniformly excellent.

Charles Gordon, sadly, passed away last year, but he helped to give Tullamore Distillery the best possible start. There is no hurrying the next step, but the whiskey that finally emerges from those warehouses should be worth the wait.

The Distillery Ambassador, Jane Maher, will be at the next Irish Whiskey Society tasting, on Thursday, along with a selection of Tullamore Dew's more unusual and harder-to-find bottlings. If you are in Dublin, do come!
David Havelinhttps://email@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/09/tullamore-distillery.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-52531560435101981442014-09-20T18:11:00.001+01:002014-09-20T18:11:51.400+01:00Tullamore Dew Phoenix Celebratory Exclusive Single Batch
This fearsome-looking bird greets VIP visitors to the plush end of the new Tullamore Distillery.

The phoenix is the central motif on Tullamore town's coat-of-arms, recalling a major fire of 1785 and the town's subsequent reconstruction. It was more recently co-opted as a metaphor for the return of distilling to Tullamore after a gap of 60 years. Tullamore Dew Phoenix was released last year as work on the new distillery progressed.

To commemorate the first flow of spirit last Thursday, the company has taken Tullamore Dew Phoenix and finished it in virgin American oak. They watched it closely in cask and, after 3 months, judged it to have picked up just enough of that fresh wood influence. It was bottled in a limited edition of 2,014 bottles as Tullamore Dew Celebratory Exclusive Single Batch.

Like the original Phoenix, it is a hefty 55% ABV, non-chill filtered. It is a triple-distilled, triple blend -Tullamore's signature recipe of grain, malt and pot still whiskeys blended together. The pot still component of Phoenix is finished for two years in Oloroso casks.

A few of us were fortunate to taste this new expression the day before the grand opening in the company of John Quinn, Tullamore Dew's Global Brand Ambassador. I subsequently noticed what John was too modest to point out then: that it is his signature on each bottle.

John Quinn, Global Brand Ambassador for Tullamore Dew

I checked my notes from some years ago and was reminded that John started with Tullamore Dew in 1974, back when it was made at Powers distillery in Dublin. He has, therefore, spent 40 years nurturing the brand to the success it is today (it is the second most popular Irish whiskey, shifting about 900,000 cases a year, and growing).

The phoenix metaphor implies an intermediate state of total destruction but that's overstating things here. Sure, Tullamore Dew lost its home in 1954 and has kipped on a few couches since then. But it has emerged stronger from the experience because people like John Quinn maintained its unique recipe, evolved its brand, and kept introducing it to new consumers. The 1829 year of establishment declared on bottles of Tullamore Dew and on the front of the new distillery implies a continuity of production and craftsmanship that only stands up thanks to the efforts of John, along with his colleagues and predecessors.

I'm thrilled, then, that the company has honoured John's 40-years and counting by putting his name on this fine whiskey.

There are only 2,014 bottles of this Celebratory Exclusive, a number with obvious significance. The night before the distillery launch, Tom McCabe handed over the keys of the old Tullamore distillery to the new distillery's Process Leader, Denise Devenny, who is responsible for all operations there. It was said that Tom was the last to lock the doors on the old distillery when it shut down in 1954.

Tom was presented with bottle number 1,954 of Tullamore Dew Phoenix Celebratory Exclusive, while Denise received number 2,014.

Denise Devenny (centre-left) receiving the keys of the old Tullamore distillery from Tom McCabe (centre-right)

The whiskey is exclusively available in Ireland, at the Tullamore Dew visitor centre, Dublin Airport, and the Celtic Whiskey Shop in Dublin, at a recommended retail price of €90. (I'll be trying to snag one myself at this price. Excellent value, I think.)

The official tasting notes are below. I'd call out the orange and delicate oak on the finish, with not a hint of dryness. A distinctly oaky smell remained in the glass, reminding me of the pleasant, sweet fragrance of pipe tobacco.

Nose

Rich vanilla with creamy toffee and spice. The Tullamore Dew signature notes of green leafy maltiness are beautifully framed with the warmth of the new American oak.

Taste

Full oak flavour with vibrant vanilla and cinnamon spice. With water the more delicate floral and fruity notes develop and mingle with the sweet oak notes.

Finish

Long lasting vanilla sweetness.
David Havelinhttps://email@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/09/tullamore-dew-phoenix-celebratory.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-67745020637894186372014-09-13T20:47:00.000+01:002014-09-13T20:47:45.217+01:00Walsh Whiskey DistilleryIt must be at least six years since I first spoke with Bernard Walsh. Even then, long before Irish whiskey projects became fashionable, he was dreaming of one day distilling himself. An impossible aspiration, I thought, but on Thursday I was down at Royal Oak, Carlow, turning the sod on Walsh Whiskey Distillery.

The Setting

I parked near the gate of the 40-acre estate and walked up the long drive towards Holloden House, a mid-18th century pile. To my left was a stubble field, recently harvested of its grain. To my right, a line of 200-year old oak trees. Beyond the house, the estate backs on to the River Barrow. Grain, water, oak... the recipe for whiskey is written right into the landscape.

Some of the magnificent trees dating from the early 1800s dotting the estate, including seven species of oak.

There are about 200 oak trees on the estate, comprising seven different species. About 200 species will grow in Carlow, however, and part of the plan is to establish an oak arboretum under the guidance of a horticultural consultant.

Holloden House is a picturesque, overgrown ruin. It won't be part of the distillery proper but will welcome visitors for tastings in fine style when it is eventually restored.

The front of Holloden House

Adjacent buildings

Nobody I asked knew the purpose of the unusually-shaped slits in this wall

The Distillery

The distillery will be a short stroll from the house across a wooden bridge. It's compactly arranged to present the whole process to visitors from grain delivery through milling, mashing, fermenting and distilling to casking. It's then only a tidy barrel-roll out the back door to the onsite maturation warehouses which can hold up to 60,000 casks.

Aerial view showing the river Barrow behind, Holloden House on the left and the new distillery on the right. Image courtesy of Walsh Distillery.

The Irish distilling renaissance has been awaiting a confident, contemporary architectural statement. This is it. There are no pastiche accoutrements like "pagoda" roofs that ape the appearance of Scottish distilleries. A clean, modern line is achieved with natural materials: stone, oak posts, slate, copper. The distillery wears its newness with assurance, nodding politely to its 250-year old neighbour but ready to begin forging its own history.

The new distillery. Image courtesy of Walsh Distillery

The building - designed by architect, James O'Donoghue - showcases its purpose by displaying the copper pots behind a huge glass wall, and by making a feature of the column stills and their height, wrapping them in a tower capped off in glass and copper.

Although the River Barrow flows right behind the distillery, water is so important to the whiskey-making process that it has been given added prominence in the form of two ponds in front of the building. The distillery's cooling water is drawn from the river and circulates through these ponds. A cascade between the ponds contributes the sound of water to the ambience of a distillery visit.

Process water will come from the Barrow Valley Aquifer, directly below the distillery.

Construction should begin in October for completion by the end of 2015, with commissioning of up to 3 months duration from January 2016.

The Whiskey

The distillery will make all three styles of spirit - pot still, malt and grain - under one roof.

Distillery capacity is 2m litres of pure alcohol a year, which translates into 500,000 cases of whiskey (a "case" is 9 litres) or 6m bottles. The whole Irish whiskey industry currently shifts about 6m cases a year so Walsh's output will make a fair splash in the market. Bernard reckons that by size he will rank just after Midleton, Tullamore, Bushmills and Cooley.

The pot still and malt spirits will be triple-distilled in pots already on order from Forsyths in Scotland, who are also supplying much of the rest of the distillery kit. No attempt will be made to replicate the existing Irishman and Writers Tears range - currently made at Midleton - with the new stills. Those whiskeys will continue to be made under contract by Irish Distillers while new expressions are created from the Royal Oak spirit.

Photo courtesy of Walsh Whiskey Distillery

Walsh Whiskey has released both single malts and "blends" of malt and pot still but has never produced a blend in the usual sense of the word, i.e. a whiskey that combines grain with malt and/or pot still. In the new distillery there will be a two-column Coffey still producing grain whiskey. The continuous throughput of a Coffey still produces a lighter style of spirit, very efficiently. It therefore enhances the financial viability of the distillery. It also allows full flexibility when supplying the needs of private labels, something that Walsh has indicated it will do. Bernard tells me he hopes to use Irish-grown wheat in his column still (imported maize is more common in the industry here).

The barley for the pot still and malt whiskeys will be sourced locally too, with malting done by Minch Malt, about 35km away in Athy. The distillery should achieve "field to glass" control over the product it makes with farming and malting done in the vicinity and everything else done on site.

The maturation story has a nice twist. The use of ex-bourbon casks has always been a hallmark of Walsh whiskeys (not exclusively though) and no doubt bourbon will be the mainstay of the new whiskeys too. But Walsh Whiskey Distillery is a joint venture with Italian family-owned company, Illva Saronno, which is in the wine business (besides owning Disaronno, Tia Maria and many other alcohol brands). Walsh already has its eye on reusing those wine casks to age its whiskeys.

Distilling expertise is being provided by Stuart Nickerson, a Scottish whiskey consultant who brings over 30 years of experience in the business, covering production, marketing and management.

Walsh Whiskey has already honed the knack of selecting and blending fine whiskeys, of course. Its relationship with Irish Distillers at Midleton dates back to 1999 when the Hot Irishman Irish-coffee-in-a-bottle product launched. The Irishman whiskey launched in 2006, and Writers Tears (always on my recommended list) followed in 2009. Bernard's annual limited edition selections from the warehouses in Midleton are always a treat. At Royal Oak this week I was able to remind myself just how wonderful the 2013 Irishman Cask Strength was. (Bernard advises me that this year's Writers Tears Cask Strength has turned out to be quite something too.)

Breaking Ground

Ready to dig. Photo courtesy of Walsh Whiskey Distillery.

All 200 guests at the sod-turning ceremony last Thursday had a chance to wield the spade. Only a handful work directly for Walsh Whiskey but most of the rest, I would say, have been involved in some way in Walsh's success to date, or will be with this new phase. Some we heard from during the day: the maltster, the distiller, the architect, the engineer; many were publicly thanked, including the bottler, the county council planner, and representatives of Enterprise Ireland, Bord Bia & the Irish Whiskey Association.

Distributors and marketers are key, of course. It's one thing to make the stuff but how do you get consumers to realise it exists and then buy it, particularly when 95% of your sales are outside Ireland. Walsh sells to 30 countries and its distributors in 12 of those travelled to Ireland for the event. They have to be evangelists for the product, winning over shops and bar owners who, in turn, must persuade their customers to drink it. It takes a strong marketing message emanating from HQ to travel that distance, a message that will be greatly reinforced by having a working distillery with a visitor centre set on a grand estate.

Of course the Italian side was well-represented, led by Illva CEO, Augusto Reina. Besides financial support, Illva also brings serious distribution muscle to the partnership, with a network stretching to 160 countries and with particular strength in the important markets of India and China. At the moment, Walsh seems to be shifting as much liquid as it can lay its hands on but when the taps open at Royal Oak, the pipelines to the rest of the world will be ready.

Rosemary Walsh, Augusto Reina, Bernard Walsh, Minister Ann Phelan

I'll be ready too, with a glass. I'd like to congratulate the founders of Walsh Whiskey Distillery, Rosemary & Bernard Walsh, everyone else at WWD, and their new partners Illva Saronno on this exciting new adventure for Irish whiskey. Slaínte! Salute!

Acknowledgements

I feel very privileged to have helped turn the sod on a new distillery, especially for a company whose whiskeys I enjoy so much. Thank you, Walsh Whiskey, for the invitation and to Bernard Walsh, Shane Fitzharris and Woody Kane who have all been so helpful over the years with information for this site.

Thank you, too, to Conor Dempsey, of Dempsey Corporate, who is the guy you want running and MC'ing an event like this. It was elaborately arranged, with many moving parts, but it all went off as beautifully and enjoyably as the occasion deserved.David Havelinhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/09/walsh-whiskey-distillery.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-67663915652180344152014-07-24T02:28:00.002+01:002014-07-24T22:43:24.025+01:00Whiskey and politics
A posse of drinks industry heroes recently met the Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food in Leinster House. Marie Byrne of the Dublin Whiskey Company brought the entrepreneurial vibrancy that suffuses Irish distilling at the moment; Willie Masterson, malted barley grower, told of farmers' readiness to supply the extra grain that the phenomenal growth in Irish whiskey will require; and Peter O'Brien, chairman of the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland and corporate relations director for Diageo, explained the enormous ongoing contribution of drinks production to the Irish economy.

You would think this would be a rather convivial encounter. "You want to generate how many jobs and attract how many extra tourists to the country? That's marvellous! What can your representatives in government do to help?"

But no. The visitors were treated rudely and condescendingly by the committee members, none of whom seemed prepared to begin an intelligent and constructive partnership. Éamon Ó Cuív set the tone by decrying the "violence and misery" that the demon booze has visited upon us, and the other five speakers trotted out sanctimonious variations on the same theme.

Even Senator Mary Ann O'Brien disappointed. She is not a career politician but a businessperson who built a successful export-oriented chocolate company. I had expected her to support fellow luxury goods entrepreneurs instead of throwing them under the bus.

Meanwhile, in a parallel universe...

If we did have political representatives capable of independent and productive thought, perhaps they would sound like this:

"There is nothing wrong with an Irish person enjoying an alcoholic drink. It is a pleasure we share with every other society on the planet, a part of our common humanity and something we have enjoyed for millennia. The state should not punish this activity."

"Changing the binge drinking culture is our job, not the job of the drinks industry. We were elected to lead, we are paid to lead, we will lead."

"We have generated a lot of noise about alcohol abuse but while pretending to give a damn we actually made alcohol of indifferent quality widely available in petrol stations and late-night convenience stores, and in bulk at low cost from supermarkets. We sabotaged sensible ideas like café-bar licensing and the introduction of smaller 'schooner' glasses in pubs."

"We are closing the Daíl bar. Nobody should be drinking in the workplace. We will set a more mature example."

"The recent interest in craft brewing and distilling is a great opportunity to move the focus of drinking away from quantity towards quality."

"We will also encourage, via Bord Bia, the matching of Irish foods with Irish drinks, encouraging a healthier pattern of consumption."

"We will subtly shift an unfortunate perceived link abroad - particularly in the the US - between Irishness and alcohol abuse, towards an association between Ireland and the world's best craft spirits, ciders and beers."

"Bottles of fine whiskey will be ambassadors for Irish quality and craft in every nook and cranny of the globe."

"We will foster a pride in and appreciation of our native spirits at home by not pricing them out of reach of ordinary folks. The new distilleries need a thriving local market to bootstrap their growth and gain valuable consumer feedback."

"VAT of 23% on a bottle of whiskey is already an excessive grab from people's after-tax income. Adding a further €14.66 in excise duty (including VAT on that duty!) is arbitrary, punitive and unbecoming of a democracy."

"We will not discourage whiskey tourism - so successful in Scotland - by making great spirits but taxing them so they can't be affordably sampled in their own country."

"We can phase out archaic taxes like excise duty if we ruthlessly eliminate wasteful public spending due to over-administration and corruption."

"If alcohol abuse imposes a cost on society we will seek to recover those costs more directly from those who abuse alcohol. Spreading the cost across all drinkers is not a disincentive."

"We wish the new brewers and distillers the best of success. The country is behind you. Slaínte!"
David Havelinhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/07/whiskey-and-politics.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-62573461344502498402014-07-23T00:50:00.000+01:002014-07-25T00:51:42.422+01:00Ómra 2001 Single Cask Single MaltHot on the heels of their Teeling Single Cask, online German whiskey retailer, Irish Whiskeys, has released another exclusive bottling. This is a single cask, single malt, triple-distilled in 2001 at a distillery in Northern Ireland (more we are not permitted to say). It was matured in a bourbon hogshead and bottled at 51%. There are only 120 bottles, €79.90 a pop.

It has been christened "Ómra" which, I have just learned, means "amber" in Irish.

Photo courtesy of Irish-Whiskeys.de

As well as shipping to various continental European countries, owner Mareike Spitzer tells me they now ship to Ireland too. Welcome news!

Official tasting notes:

Nose
Ripe fruit, hazelnut, vanilla, toffee, sherry sweetness.

Taste
Oily, malt, nutty, apricot.

Finish
Very long-lasting and sweet.

David Havelinhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/07/omra-2001-single-cask-single-malt.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-11881532059708104362014-07-22T01:11:00.000+01:002014-07-25T01:11:54.869+01:00Midleton Very Rare 2014
Irish Distillers have just released this year's edition of Midleton Very Rare. It's the 30th anniversary of Midleton Very Rare but it's also significant because this is the first to bear the signature of Master Distiller Brian Nation. He succeeded to that role when Barry Crockett retired in 2013.

Master Distiller Brian Nation. Photo courtesy of Irish Distillers.

Midleton is a blend of pot still and grain whiskeys, matured in lightly-charred ex-bourbon American oak casks for between 15 and 22 years. I expect it will retail for about €150 in Ireland.

Official tasting notes:

Nose
Rich, with vanilla sweetness on a layer of oak char from the influence of American white oak ex-Bourbon barrels. A soft floral note introduces the sweet spice of cinnamon, green pepper, and garden mint. Beautifully rounded with hints of green apple and banana.

Taste
Full, with the sweet spice of vanilla, cinnamon, and liquorice and the flinty note of barley grains. Ripe fruit combines with the charred oak, adding to the complexity.

Finish
Sweet spicy flavours that linger, fading slowly to leave the last word with the barley.

David Havelinhttps://email@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/07/midleton-very-rare-2014.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-9697700134899692982014-07-14T11:26:00.002+01:002014-07-14T11:26:17.789+01:00Teeling Single Cask Single Malt 2007I wrote yesterday about a "new" Teeling single cask, single malt whiskey bottled exclusively for Irish Whiskeys, an online retailer in Germany. I slipped up a bit there because that was, in fact, released last year. I didn't document it then so better late than never.

What I should have been writing about is their actually new, just released, single cask, single malt Teeling. It was double-distilled in 2007 and matured in an ex-bourbon cask until 2014. Mareike Spitzer, the company founder, selected the cask herself.

324 bottles have been produced, at 46%, without chill-filtering or colouring. It sells for €49.

Nose
Wood, apricot, marzipan, apple, cream.
Taste
Wood, vanilla, citrus, oily, fruit.
Finish
Very long with intense woody notes.

Photo courtesy of Irish-Whiskeys.de

David Havelinhttps://email@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/07/teeling-single-cask-single-malt-2007.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-83594887055731551912014-07-13T15:30:00.001+01:002014-07-14T11:29:56.050+01:00Teeling Single Cask 11 Year OldUpdate: this was, in fact, released last year (though it's still available). I meant to write about this Teeling single cask, single malt.

A new Teeling whiskey has surfaced in Germany last year. It's a single cask, double-distilled, single malt bottled exclusively for Irish-Whiskeys.de, an online seller of Irish whiskey based near Frankfurt.

Distilled in August 2001, it matured in a bourbon cask for almost 12 years, until July 2013. It is bottled at the cask strength of 57%. It is neither chill-filtered nor coloured.

Tasting Notes (from IrishWhiskeys.de):

Nose
Vanilla, peach, apricot, grass, oak.
Palate
Oily, intense fruit, sweet vanilla, oak, subtle hints of pepper.
Finish
Long-lasting, intense.
It sells for a very reasonable €65 and can be shipped to Austria, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands, Poland and Spain.

Photo courtesy of IrishWhiskeys.de

The Irish Whiskeys company was founded by Mareike Spitzer in September 2011 when she found it hard to find a good selection of Irish whiskeys in Germany.

I asked Mareike when her interest in whiskey began. She tells me her husband was quite the fan which piqued her curiosity so, at a whiskey show in Frankfurt in 2008, she sought out something mild and sweet. She found it in Jameson Gold which, to this day, remains one of her favourites (it's one of mine too!).

Mareike toured Ireland recently, meeting with distillers old and new like Slane Castle, Cooley, Teeling, Bushmills and Glendalough. While here she enjoyed some of the best spirits this island has to offer, including Teeling's 26- and 30-year old single malts, and 15-year old cask strength, sherry-matured Bushmills malt.

Irish-Whiskeys.de is an online-only vendor but you can meet them in person at various whiskey shows this year: Whisky Herbst in Berlin, Whiskymesse Rüsselsheim, Aquavitae in Mülheim and Whisky & Tobacco Days in Hofheim.

Their catalogue is pretty comprehensive and up-to-date. I spy some other exclusive bottlings, some whiskeys that aren't available in Ireland, and some labels I don't even recognise. It's already a great selection but Mareike aims to keep expanding it and to add more single cask bottlings, in particular. There will be another of these soon, perhaps by the end of this month.David Havelinhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/07/teeling-single-cask-11-year-old.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-72966454786270978772014-05-06T22:38:00.000+01:002014-05-06T22:38:37.812+01:00Teeling 26- and 30-Year Old Vintage Reserve Single MaltsI think I first heard of Teeling's Vintage Reserve collection at Bloom last year. The 21-year old Silver Reserve was on the way, to be followed, Jack Teeling told me, by the Gold and Platinum Reserves. I recall it because that is when I learned, to my surprise, that platinum is a more valuable metal than gold.

Teeling, more au fait with the metal markets than I, have dubbed their new 26-year old single malt "Gold Reserve" and their 30-year old, top-of-the-range whiskey, "Platinum Reserve". The 30yo will set you back about an ounce-and-a-half of platinum, or €1,500 (wow!); the 26yo will lighten your purse by a mere half-ounce of gold, or €475.

The Gold Reserve is 26-year old single malt, doubled distilled in 1987 and matured for the most part in bourbon casks. Alex Chasko, TWC's master blender and distiller, says that the whiskey hadn't quite gelled so he moved it for the final 15 months to white Burgundy casks, a wood choice hitherto untested on Irish whiskey, never mind on such old and rare spirit.

It was a brave move but it worked. I've tried this whiskey a couple of times and it's a stunner. For what it's worth, in my opinion, this is one of the best Irish whiskeys you can walk into a shop and lay your hands on today, at any price. It is limited to 1,000 bottles, at 46% ABV.

The Gold Reserve hits the spot for me but some might plump for the 30-year old Platinum Reserve instead. This is a rarer tipple, with only 250 bottles released, again at 46%. It's just the one ex-bourbon cask, double-distilled in 1983. I sampled it on the same night as I tried the Gold. On another occasion it would have been the highlight of the evening. But that Gold...

The new whiskeys are available initially only in Ireland at Dublin airport and the Celtic Whiskey Shop but they will eventually find their way to select international markets and travel retailers.David Havelinhttps://email@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/05/teeling-26-and-30-year-old-vintage.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-92196185790716773302014-04-19T02:10:00.004+01:002014-04-19T02:10:57.831+01:00The Centenary Series Whiskey CollectionThings were really kicking off a hundred years ago. As if the excitement of a front row seat to World War I wasn't enough, some in Ireland chose the war years to violently oppose British rule. A limited uprising was succeeded by a successful war of independence and then a civil war. We'll be commemorating blood-soaked centenaries for years to come.

That same period also feels like the birth of the modern era. There were long-distance telephone calls, cinemas, Model T Fords, cubism, general relativity and quantum theory. Aviation milestones were coming thick and fast since the first powered flight only a decade earlier.

The Irish Whiskey Collection at Dublin and Cork airports has selected five events from this period - one for each year from 1914 to 1918 - to commemorate in whiskey form:

1914: James Joyce's collection of short stories, Dubliners, was published.

1915: Hugh Lane, great patron of the arts in Ireland, died when the Lusitania was sunk.

1916: WB Yeats's poem of the same name was written.

1917: John McCormack recorded Keep the Home Fires Burning.

1918: Constance Markievicz was elected to Westminster. She refused to take her seat, choosing to join the first Dáil Éireann in Dublin instead, where she became the first female government minister.

Five casks of single malt, double-distilled in 1988 have been set aside in the Teeling Whiskey Company's warehouse. They were selected for their balance of spice, fruit and wood, according to Alex Chasko, TWC's whiskey wizard, who rates them as "some of the best casks we have in the warehouse".

Each year one of these ex-bourbon casks will be bottled at 46% for sale at The Loop in Irish airports. There will be 250 bottles of each. Collecting all five is an opportunity to track the maturation of some very old Irish malt from 25 to 29 years old. "There is still loads of life left in these casks with a very exciting flavour profile", says Alex.

The 2014 Centenary whiskey was released in March. A 70cl bottle goes for €395 (or €295 Duty Free). That sounds expensive but Teeling's recent 26 year old Gold Reserve will set you back €450. I wouldn't often say this, but I've tasted the Gold Reserve and it's worth it. It is a "wow" whiskey. I haven't had the opportunity to try the Centenary yet but Alex tells me people have the same reaction to that.

Official tasting notes:

Nose
Sweet full body nose with mango, tropical fruit, cracked pepper and apple notes to the fore.

Taste
Spice and ginger gives way to jam fruits and toasty well-balanced oak dryness.

Finish
The tropical fruit returns with lychee, strawberry and bubblegum in force.

The events of almost a hundred years ago - independence and Prohibition, in particular - were disastrous for the Irish whiskey industry and almost killed it off. A century later, with the industry in rude health, we can remember that time more fondly and offer a toast to some of the inspiring figures who helped shape a brand new nation.David Havelinhttps://email@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/04/the-centenary-series-whiskey-collection.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-5145998709425029212014-04-15T03:10:00.000+01:002014-04-15T03:10:35.129+01:00The tortilla revolutionThis is going to seem very like a story about tortillas, rather than whiskey. Think of it as allegory.

According to Philip Martin, owner of the Little Ass Burrito Bar in Dawson Street, we don't know tortillas in Ireland, or even in Europe. The real deal is a corn tortilla (by corn, I mean maize), not the wheat imposters that we have latched on to. And the corn must have been nixtamalized first, which means steeping and cooking in limewater. This increases its nutritional value and improves flavour.

Philip Martin. Photo courtesy Blanco Niño.

Philip, who is a connoisseur of Mexican cuisine, has not been able to source authentic tortillas in Europe. So he is going to make them in Dublin, and ship 'em continent-wide. The part of this story that caught my eye is that these will not just be Irish-made tortillas. They will be properly Irish, made from Irish-grown corn.

Whoa, back the corn truck up there... corn grows in Ireland? I assumed it didn't because we import corn from southern France to make grain whiskey. It's combined with malt or pot still whiskey made from Irish-grown barley to produce all of our famous blends. I guessed that corn requires sunny climes to prosper.

Turns out that's only true up to a point. By choosing an appropriate early-maturing variety and taking into account soil, exposure and aspect, you can sow and reap maize quite successfully in Ireland. It's not going to be sweetcorn (though there are a few farmers pulling that trick off in low volumes every year) but it makes a good animal feed. And it can make corn flour.

Talking to Philip, I learned that corn has become quite a conventional feed crop in Ireland in recent decades. It calls for some quite technical farming - taking the temperature of the soil and using plastic to warm it up for planting, for example. But Teagasc and the universities have been throwing science at the problem for some time and have figured out what works on this island.

Corn tortillas. Photo courtesy Blanco Niño.

Blanco Niño, Philip's company, plans to be making tortillas by June (though not from Irish corn this first year, I think, it being too late to plant). The tortilla revolution will be crowd-funded. It has already met its basic funding goal but there is a week left to swap cash for equity, with full voting rights.

What a marvellous idea, eh? Philip saw a market for corn-based products and has matched it up with spare capacity on Irish farms following the forced demise of the sugar beet industry.

It seems to me that a gauntlet has been thrown down here. If tortillas can be Irish, surely Irish whiskey can be Irish, made of grain grown in Irish soil, in an Irish climate. Since distillers started importing French corn, research, experience and - perhaps - global warming have made maize a commercial crop in Ireland. Philip's collective of farmers would be just as happy to supply corn for alcohol as for flour so how about it? I'm just floating the thought.

In the meantime, if this article has you jonesing for good Mexican food in Dublin, here are a few leads. First, of course, Philip will fix you a tasty burrito at his Little Ass restaurant in Dawson Street. Check out the menu (pdf).

My neighbours, Lily and Alan, run an online shop that sells specially sourced Mexican ingredients. Lily will be showing how to make real corn tortillas, among other Mexican standards, at the upcoming Slow Food Irish-Mex Taco Night.David Havelinhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/04/the-tortilla-revolution.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-10826036572555995532014-04-10T13:38:00.000+01:002014-04-10T13:38:12.205+01:00The Irish Whiskey AssociationI spied an original 1887 edition of Alfred Barnard's Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom yesterday.
The archivist from Irish Distillers in Midleton had brought it along to the launch of the Irish Whiskey Association (IWA) and it was very appropriate to the occasion. Barnard's tour is both a 19th century record of past glories in Irish distilling and an aspirational document for today describing an island dotted with dozens of world-renowned distilleries.

Eighteen whiskey companies have joined forces under the IWA banner to make sure that aspiration becomes reality. Most were represented at the launch, where multinationals mingled with micro-distillers and grizzled veterans gossiped with the young guns.

That itself is one of the main purposes of the new organisation: to diffuse knowledge among the member companies, and especially to the new market entrants. It's already happening and I have heard very nice things said about Irish Distillers and Bushmills, for example, regarding the generous help they have supplied to those setting up. I picked up a hard-won tip myself yesterday from Alltech's Jack O'Shea on burnishing copper stills; a myriad of such details contribute to the efficient operation and maintenance of a distillery.

The established companies' willingness to mentor the up-and-coming stems from, I think, a mix of altruism and a reasonable desire to see that the new players reinforce Irish whiskey's reputation for quality.

Bring it, Scotland

Nothing unites, of course, like a common enemy, and that enemy is... Scotland. I jest but we certainly envy their heft in the business. They shipped 93m cases of whiskey in 2013, compared to our 6.2m. If we want to take them on we have to band together to promote and protect the category worldwide. Scotland has an industry organisation that does this, namely the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA). The SWA stalks the planet scrutinising bottle labels for illicit suggestions of tartan that might mislead the unwary into thinking they are buying Scotch.

Some IWA members have already felt the displeasure of the SWA. If I recall correctly, for example, Cooley once tried to use a local placename (Glenmore?) for a new whiskey. The SWA objected, claiming ownership over anything with 'Glen' in the name.

That was a stretch, perhaps, but one of the strongest defensive measures that the IWA can deploy is the Geographic Indication (GI) for Irish whiskey that is defined at EU level. The IWA is currently working on technical files to be lodged with the Commission that will nail down what does and doesn't qualify as Irish whiskey under this GI. Trade agreements between the EU and other countries ensure that our GIs are respected on other continents. I believe we can also look forward to the restoration of the term Irish Pot Still in law, which has been missing (and occasionally misused) since 1980.

Recruiting government

The IWA will also represent the whiskey industry's interests to the Irish government. This seems to me its most challenging task. The Minister for Agriculture, Food & the Marine, Simon Coveney, formally launched the association yesterday. He seems like a decent chap, genuinely batting for Ireland and Irish products abroad. I have long admired what Bord Bia - under his department - does for craft food producers and I understand they are now taking a greater interest in artisan spirits.

From the minister's speech, I took it that his interest in whiskey was export earnings, tourism and jobs. He understands too the benefit to Ireland's image from quality, craft products like whiskey. What I didn't pick up especially was an appreciation for whiskey as a drink.

It would be unreasonable to expect the minister to consume everything he helps promote but I wonder if anyone in government enjoys a measure. It's hard to imagine they do when they actively try to prevent Irish people drinking it. Every year, after the Budget, I describe the level of VAT and excise duty on whiskey as theft rather than tax. Only Monty Brewster with his millions can afford to throw his money away on decent whiskey in an Irish bar. It's fine, apparently, to send this demon spirit abroad to corrupt foreigners but Irish people are to be priced out of developing an appreciation for it.

It's sad that few in Ireland know anything about their native spirit and that even those who do take a whiskey often confine their explorations to Scotch. It does not help the export and tourism markets when the Irish themselves are such poor ambassadors for Irish whiskey.

So I'd like a champion for Irish whiskey at the cabinet table, advised and encouraged by the IWA, who can curb the worst excesses of the finance and health ministers and return the slow - inherently responsible - enjoyment of craft Irish whiskey to the Irish people.

The members

There are 18 founding members of the IWA: Alltech, Burren Irish Whiskey, Carlow Brewing Company, Castle Brands, Gruppo Campari/TJ Carolan, Beam/Cooley, Diageo/Bushmills, Dublin Whiskey Company, First Ireland Spirits, Glendalough Irish Whiskey, Great Northern Distillery, Irish Distillers, Slane Castle Whiskey, Teeling Whiskey Company, William Grant & Sons/Tullamore DEW, Walsh Whiskey Distillery, West Cork Distillers and Wild Geese Irish Whiskey. It is an all-island organisation.

Headed by Aoife Keane, it comes under the Alcohol Beverage Foundation of Ireland, itself part of the business group, IBEC. The founding chairman is Peter Morehead, moonlighting from his day job as Production Director at Midleton.

Irish Whiskey Association members celebrating the launch. Photo courtesy of the IWA.

There are some very familiar faces in that "family" photo, savouring a landmark moment in the renaissance of Irish whiskey. How many can you recognise?

It was a very enjoyable launch event (with tea and coffee the strongest drinks consumed!) that finished long before I had a chance to interrogate everyone. Besides catching up with some old friends of the blog, I spoke for the first time with Campari (who recently released Irish Mist Whiskey), First Ireland Spirits (makers of Dubliner Whiskey Liqueur, and recently acquired by Quintessential) and Burren Irish Whiskey (which wasn't on my radar at all but sounds very promising). I also note that Carlow Brewing Company (ie O'Hara's) is a member in its own right, separate from Alltech, whose stills they are hosting temporarily. Is that a hint of something exciting in the works?

The new association is a huge leap forward for the Irish whiskey industry. I congratulate Aoife and the founding member companies for making it happen and wish them continued success around the world with this greatest of Irish products.

David Havelinhttps://email@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/04/the-irish-whiskey-association.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-45851500065640132662014-04-08T01:08:00.000+01:002014-04-08T01:08:06.826+01:00Alltech First Principals - Whiskey by the CaskIt's a tantalising time for Irish whiskey lovers. New distilleries are filling casks day after day, but those casks won't leave the warehouse again for years. We won't entirely go thirsty in the meantime but we must nevertheless dig deep into our reserves of patience as the whiskey matures.

What might help is if we could each adopt a cask and look in on it every now and then to check how it ages, stealing a quick sip to make sure. Alltech is now offering exactly that chance, to snag one of three hundred young casks right now. They are inviting you to meet the Master Distiller, and to personalise a cask which you will then be able to visit every year to taste. All the details are in this document (pdf).

Filled casks waiting for you in Carlow. Photo courtesy of Alltech.

Alltech has been distilling single malt spirit since November 2012 in Carlow, though the plan is to up sticks to Dublin by June 2015. So far they have been maturing exclusively in ex-bourbon casks, though some of those may have tasted beer too (Alltech's American single malt, Pearse Lyons Reserve, is aged in casks that have previously held bourbon, then beer for a brief 6 weeks. That's a beautiful whiskey so I'm all for ex-beer casks). A little bird tells me there are sherry casks in Carlow now so you might be able to persuade the distiller, Jack O'Shea, to part with one of those instead. (Sherry casks are usually bigger than bourbon casks so you might have to chip in a few more groats for the extra liquid.)

Alltech has made an enormous impression on the whiskey and craft beer community in Ireland since they fetched up in Carlow with a couple of stills a scant year-and-a-half ago. They have the smartest, friendliest and most professional staff and are refreshingly open about their plans and ideas. They have hosted two huge conferences in Dublin that put potential brewers and distillers in the same room as still makers, maltsters, coopers, chemists, marketers, journalists and drinkers to network and trade knowledge.

I listened to founder and president of Alltech, Dr Pearse Lyons, exhort the attendees at one of those conferences to make something great and Irish, and sell it to the world. I watched him walk around the exhibition floor, meeting and talking to people, figuring out how he could help them, or do business with them. Things happen when you fall into Pearse's orbit. It's an enlightened way of doing business that I admire: growing the industry as a whole through cooperation and sharing, while competing by making great products.

Dr Pearse Lyons at the Alltech Craft Brewing & Distilling Convention, Dublin. © Alltech 2013

I don't know what Alltech's Irish whiskey is going to taste like when it's 5 or 10 years old. That's the risk of investing in a cask. Think of it, perhaps, as a bet on an accomplished company and a talented team.

I should mention that Dingle Distillery is still offering casks through its Founding Fathers programme. Dingle is another company with a fine provenance so what better way to hedge your liquid investments than by acquiring a cask from both distilleries.David Havelinhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/04/alltech-first-principals-whiskey-by-cask.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-68152357441028691442014-03-18T02:02:00.002Z2014-03-30T00:38:36.542ZHow many Irish whiskey distilleries are there?Update 30 March 2014: Added new information about whiskey production at West Cork Distillers.

Global interest in Irish whiskey peaks around this time each year (eg Google searches). Let's do a quick run around the existing and proposed distilleries to see where we are and where we are going in 2014 and beyond.

I have only included announced projects. I have seen plans for more distilleries and heard rumours of others but until they are ready to go public I won't mention them here.

There are eight whiskey distilleries currently producing. There could easily be another five by the end of the year.

Operational Distilleries

Midleton
Without missing a beat, Midleton completed its project to double capacity in 2013 and passed the Master Distiller baton from the legendary Barry Crockett to Brian Nation. The distillery fuels the remarkable volume growth in Irish whiskey (via Jameson) while simultaneously releasing some of the best whiskeys in the world (most recently Redbreast 21 year old). Expect more of the same this year.

Bushmills
They still make good whiskey but don't seem very interested to talk about it or to release new expressions. But they do launch wooden headphones and sunglasses, and promote indie music bands. Please, Bushmills, give me something to write about in 2014.

Cooley / Riverstown
During the Noughties, Cooley was garnering the appreciation of enthusiasts with lots of experimentation, innovation and fine whiskeys. Cooley's new owners, Beam, abandoned that approach for a pure volume play. With Beam now due to be swallowed by Suntory, I am hoping the good times are on the way back.

Kilbeggan
When Cooley was independent, Kilbeggan was their small, experimental distillery that was building up a stock of all sorts of interesting spirit like pot still, rye and so on. Beam renamed the whole company after Kilbeggan and tasked the distillery with producing a standard malt that could be vatted into the signature blend along with the far greater volumes produced at Riverstown. Perhaps Suntory will allow Andrina Fitzgerald, Kilbeggan's distiller, play around with the mashbills again.

Dingle
Distilling since the end of 2012. Not just whiskey, but vodka and gin too. The gin (just launched in the US) has been very well received and I expect it to kindle an interest in craft Irish gins. I'm surprised among all the announced distillery projects that there hasn't been one targeting gin exclusively but chances are high that some will try their hand at gin anyway, just for the immediate return on investment.

Echlinville
Distilling since June last year. They recently acquired a defunct but well-known Belfast whiskey brand, Dunville's. This will be handy when their own whiskey matures (their other brand is the jokey Feckin Irish Whiskey) but they have somehow managed to put Dunville's on the market already (a rebadged Cooley blend, one presumes).

Alltech / Carlow
Distilling since November 1st, 2012 on Carlow Brewing Company premises but due to move to James's Street in Dublin in 2014. They have recently announced a cask pre-purchase scheme.

West Cork Distillers
West Cork are well known for their innovative brown spirit drinks (like Drombeg, Lough Hyne and Kennedy) but they are also laying down whiskey spirit that is maturing in first-fill bourbon and sherry casks. They tell me they have an Irish whiskey on the market already, which I missed but hope to get information on soon.

West Cork are also fuelling the attempt to launch poitín as a viable spirit category. They have their own Two Trees brand and supply some of the other labels on the market too.

Not yet operational

Tullamore
Tullamore Dew is made under contract by Irish Distillers in Midleton but William Grant, who bought the brand in 2010, have been building a huge new distillery in Tullamore to take production back in house. It recently took delivery of four copper pot stills from Forsyths, replicas of the originals from the old Tullamore Distillery that closed in 1954. It should begin distilling in the autumn.

Teeling
Recently secured planning permission for a new distillery in Newmarket Square, Dublin 8. Aims to be in production by the fourth quarter of this year. Of course Teeling has been releasing quality whiskeys already, distilled elsewhere but finished in their own wood and custom blended by Alex Chasko. We can look forward to more of that in 2014.

Slane Castle
Received planning permission for a new distillery last July. Camus Cognac was involved back then but its two directors have since resigned from Slane Castle Whiskey. I believe the project proceeds regardless.

Glendalough
Glendalough Poitín is an attractive range of spirits with an affinity for red lemonade. Currently made under contract, the team is looking to build a distillery close to Glendalough itself. I haven't been able to find an associated planning application but I'm told this is happening, and sooner rather than later.

Dublin Whiskey Company
A planning application has been submitted for a distillery in Mill Street, Dublin 8. The team includes Dr Jim Swan who has consulted for distilleries such as Penderyn and Kavalan.

Alltech / St James Street Distillery
The stills are moving up from Carlow and they are going to need some new mashing and fermenting kit they have been borrowing from their hosts up till now. A planning application has yet to be submitted for the former church and lighting showroom but it's due to be lodged soon. You might think the €35,000 they had to fork over to the Church of Ireland would have secured permission from The Highest Power of All but apparently Caesar must be rendered unto separately.

Walsh Whiskey Distillery
Carlow is losing one distillery (when Alltech decamps to Dublin) but gaining another, thanks to Bernard Walsh and his successful Irishman and Writers Tears brands. Although Bernard's signature "blend" of pot still and malt whiskeys is unique in the business and cask selection is overseen by himself, the liquid has always been supplied under contract from Midleton. Together with his partners, Italian company Illva Saronno, he is going to build a new distillery on the estate of Holloden House, County Carlow. The derelict house will be restored too. The planning application has been submitted, with a decision due in mid-April.

Great Northern Distillery
The epic name was a gift from the site's previous incarnation as the Great Northern Brewery, until recently part of the Diageo empire but now surplus to requirements and sold on. It was bought by a new company with the utterly prosaic name of the Irish Whiskey Company. Two-thirds owned by the Teeling family, it's going to be a huge operation, second only to Midleton. The initial idea is to supply bulk whiskey to private labels, retail brands, etc. It's supposed to be operational during the third quarter of 2014.

Belfast / Titanic / Crumlin Road Gaol
The company behind the Titanic and Danny Boy whiskeys got permission in April last year to construct a distillery within one wing of the historic Crumlin Road Gaol. It has been pretty quiet since then but I note that an engineering consultancy was awarded a contract for the mechanical and electrical fit-out at the end of January. That bodes well.

Niche Drinks / Derry
Niche Drinks was granted permission to to build a distillery on the outskirts of Derry in May, 2013. Niche already makes Irish cream liqueur on a different site in Derry and has been seeking planning permission to redevelop that location as a supermarket in order to have the funds to invest in the new distillery. The application has been tied up in objections and other correspondence and is still undecided.

Portaferry
Outline planning permission was granted for a micro-distillery in Portaferry on the Ards peninsula in June 2013. I've heard nothing more about that.

Other announced projects

Planning permission was recently denied for Horse Island off the coast of Cork. It doesn't sound like owner Adrian Fitzgibbon is going to pursue that location but he is reported to be looking for another site.

West Cork Distillers were reported in March 2013 to be renovating an old distillery in Bandon. I don't know the status of that project.

Dingle Brewing Company have long threatened to open a distillery in Dingle and even named their future whiskey "Shackleton". Given the length of time and lack of action, my feeling is that this is not happening.David Havelinhttps://email@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/03/how-many-irish-whiskey-distilleries-are.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188300264976991117.post-24989006302131336942014-03-02T21:58:00.001Z2014-03-03T08:26:16.690ZIrish handmade whiskey tumblersIn the Makers & Brothers pop-up shop in Dublin before Christmas, I found a whiskey tumbler made by Jerpoint Glass in Kilkenny. It had remarkable heft - heavier than any other glass I've held - handy, perhaps, for working some bicep curls into one's drinking routine.

I love glass as a material - it's not just an enclosure for conveying whiskey from shop to home. The look and feel of the bottle while pouring is part of the enjoyment of consuming whiskey. A tumbler that fits the hand and the mood elevates and extends the experience of drinking. With the proliferation of new distilleries and growing interest in whiskey in Ireland I expect we will pay a lot more attention to the theatre of spirit consumption. The whiskey enthusiasts I know experiment a lot with glassware and are always open to road-testing a new beaker in pursuit of libatious transcendence.

A while back, Makers & Brothers were commissioned by Jameson Black Barrel to design and produce a custom batch of 100 Irish-made whiskey tumblers. They started with Jerpoint's version, tweaking it to create a form slighter to the eye yet retaining that weightiness. Jerpoint's craftsmen then made these tumblers in the traditional way, by hand-blowing molten glass.

Those first hundred were given away to some lucky sods but more have now been forged by Jerpoint and are available to the world from the Makers & Brothers website at €34 a pop.

Whiskey Tumbler JRS01 by Makers & Brothers / Jerpoint

Photos courtesy of Makers & Brothers

David Havelinhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.liquidirish.com/2014/03/irish-handmade-whiskey-tumblers.html