2 days Ago
Irish whiskeys Drumshanbo Single Pot Still Marsala Cask Boann Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey PX Cask Flatley Irish Whiskey The Dreamer Triple Cask Blend Dingle Cónocht an Fómhair Single Malt Ardfallen Triple Cask Whiskey I used to think of whiskey as a winter drink, something to warm you from the inside as you laugh at the weather outside. Recently, it also became my sup of choice at summer festivals. It turns out that having a special whiskey in a hip flask is an excellent strategy for upgrading your festival experience.
A hip flask is a convenient format for sharing a drink — and sharing a special whiskey with others is a very lovely thing, as you watch their initial facial brace turn to surprise and pleasure as a rainbow of flavours unfurl. Today’s round-up includes five new-ish Irish whiskeys that warrant being savoured straight. Try them neat with the option of some ice or a little water on the side.
Some are more expensive than others, but deservedly so, given the special liquids that they are, the craft and care involved and the complexity that they offer. Given that an €80 bottle gives you 10 decent double serves (at €8 each; the price of a Temple Bar pint, if you’re lucky, or a simple enough glass of wine), I’d argue that is money well spent on a well-crafted spirit. Today’s three top whiskeys were all created from scratch at their respective distilleries in Drumshanbo, Dingle and Drogheda — which allows each distiller put its own signature stamp on the whiskey from the get-go.
This is not always the case with contemporary Irish whiskeys, as many distilleries are still waiting for their own new-make spirit to age for at least the required three years and a day in casks before it can be called whiskey. In the meantime, they can source whiskey elsewhere, which they can finish ageing in a variety of casks, blend, bottle and sell. There’s craft and skill in that too, of course, as exemplified by the impressive job done by master blender Noel Sweeney (formerly of Powerscourt Distillery and, notably, Great Northern Distillery before that) for lord of all things Irish-American Michael Flatley.
Given his celebrity status, Flatley is surely capable of shifting an awful lot of mediocre, over-priced whiskey — so kudos to him for bringing Sweeney on board to create this solid-value, five-year-old blend of triple-distilled bourbon cask-aged grain whiskey blended with double-distilled malted barley finished in a mix of Bourbon, PX sherry and port casks. The most accessibly priced today is produced by West Cork Distillers exclusively for Aldi. The Ardfallen brand picked up gold at the International Spirits Challenge 2021 for its bourbon-aged blended Ardfallen Irish Whiskey (€22), setting an impressive benchmark.
Its triple-cask whiskey is the first of several new Ardfallen arrivals on Aldi shelves over the coming months. Boann Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey PX Cask Boann Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey PX Cask, 47pc, €69.95 The richest of three single pot still whiskies given special cask treatment, this started life in 250-litre Oloroso hogshead casks and finished in 500-litre butts from a 60-year-old solera from Malaga, still coated in syrupy PX sherry.
The result is rich with raisins, figs, prunes, chocolate and muscovado with tarte tatin and lemon sherbet lift, warm liquorice spice and a concentrated finish. Try the Madeira Cask whiskey for black fruits, or the Marsala Cask for crunchier orchard fruits. Celtic Whiskey Shop, Martins, McHugh’s, James Fox, irishmalts.
com, boanndistillery.ie Drumshanbo Single Pot Still Marsala Cask Drumshanbo Single Pot Still Marsala Cask, Co Leitrim, 43pc, €80.50 Distilled onsite at The Shed Distillery from malted and unmalted barley and some Irish Barra oats for a creamier mouthfeel, and aged from the get-go in marsala casks for a full seven years, this is an elegant beauty, its single pot still spice mellowed by creamy honey and rich dried fruit.
Celtic Whiskey Shop, Molloy’s, McHugh’s, James Fox, irishmalts.com; thesheddistillery.com Flatley Irish Whiskey The Dreamer Triple Cask Blend Flatley Irish Whiskey The Dreamer Triple Cask Blend, 43pc, €40-€50 Great value given the skilful blending and quality liquid involved and five years’ ageing, this has notes of dried cherries, chocolate-coated orange peel and honey-roast nuts with some savoury rancio character and charred oak notes framing it all.
Surprisingly complex at the price. Widely available, including SuperValu, Molloy’s and independents, irishmalts.com, irishdrinkshop.
ie Dingle Cónocht an Fómhair Single Malt Dingle Cónocht an Fómhair Single Malt, 50.5pc, €85 Big, bold and feisty with sweet molasses and muscovado character from the rum cask finish, framing clove-baked apple and liquorice aromas, with juicy roasted pineapple, baked blackberry and spiced raisin on the palate. One of nine in their Wheel of The Year series.
Selected Carryout and independents, shop.dingledistillery.ie, irishmalts.
com Ardfallen Triple Cask Whiskey Ardfallen Triple Cask Whiskey, 40pc, €24.99 Produced exclusively for Aldi and new this month is this creamy, toffee-toned triple-cask blend, with virgin American oak spice and Oloroso sherry cask-dried fruit character. Look out from mid-November for its bright and rich 10-year-old Ardfallen whiskey with a moscatel cask finish.
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