TEELING WHISKEY SINGLE MALT
Ruby Port Single Cask #68076 – California Exclusive Release (2023)MASH BILL – 100% malted barley
PROOF – 116.8
AGE – NAS (6+ years)
DISTILLERY – The Teeling Whiskey Company
PRICE – $83 (discounted from the $90 msrp)
WORTH BUYING? – Absolutely
Tasted in The Year of No Buying (The what? 🔗 here.)
Having realized my Irish whiskey experience is comprised almost exclusively of the ubiquitous Midleton Distillery products—e.g. Jameson, Redbreast, the Spots, Midleton Very Rare—I’m now making a conscious effort to explore other Irish distilleries. My Midleton-centric view of Irish whiskey is of an entirely enjoyable regional genre that is also quite predictable. But, arguably, I have a broad perspective of Midleton, not of Irish whiskey.
So here we are. This is my first outing with Teeling. One might think I’d start with something among their standard releases. But this limited release cask was too enticing to pass up. A single malt, decently aged at 6+ years in a ruby port cask, and bottled at cask strength without any filtering or added color? Sign me up.
Some history.
Walter Teeling first fired up the family still in Dublin in 1782. Over two centuries later, in 2012, brothers Jack and Stephen Teeling revived the family business. Their new facility opened in 2015, not far down the road from the original site of ancestor Walter’s operation. It’s a handsome new building, and while its own distillates age, the brothers Teeling have bottled whiskeys sourced from Cooley Distillery in Dundalk, County Louth, an hour drive north of Dublin.
Cooley was established in 1987 by the Teeling brothers’ father, John Teeling. So even the source is in the family. Cooley distills the brands Connemara (Ireland’s only peated single malt whiskey until the junior Teelings put out their Blackpitts Peated Single Malt), Greenore, Inishowen, Kilbeggan, Lockes, Michael Collins, Millars, and Tyrconnell—mostly lesser known brands to us yanks. Key for me: none of these are Midleton. So whether this cask comes from Teeling or Cooley, I’m tasting something truly new to me. Goal achieved!
The younger Teelings wanted to start a new venture that would touch the past without dwelling there, reaching instead toward the future of Irish whiskey. With a professed intent to expand the range of Irish whiskey, their products focus on careful barrel selection and small batch releases, never chill filtered or altered by artificial coloring. Those factors are themselves hardly original in the wide world of whiskey. To add a distinct point of view toward their goals, for their master distiller and blender they hired Alex Chasko, an American from Portland, OR, who cut his teeth in the craft brewing industry. Chasko’s foundation in the experimental spirit and practices characteristic of the American Pacific Northwest’s craft brewing movement help the Teelings to push their Irish whiskey beyond its own foundation, which is that approachability the region is known for.
At first I thought it wasn’t explicit on the label whether this California exclusive single cask is of Teeling-distilled whiskey or drawn from their Cooley-sourced stocks. But that uncertainty was my own, my expectations having been shaped by American labeling patterns. With American whiskey, the state of distillation must be noted by law. From that, in combination with mash bills or other similar clues, one can often discern the distillery from which a secondary bottler has sourced their offerings. Intel from K&L states this Teeling cask was distilled in May 2016, so, conceivably it could be Teeling distillate. If it is Teeling’s own, I would guess that fact would be proudly splashed across the label. Instead, the humble small print states “Crafted & Bottled by Teeling Whiskey Company,” which is equivocal with regard to distillation. But then the key: “distilled by Alex Chasko.” If Chasko distilled it then it’s indeed Teeling-made and not from Cooley.
So how is it? Here we are, nearing three weeks after uncorking and four pours into the bottle. These brief notes were taken using both a traditional Glencairn and Irish crystal tumbler.
COLOR – vibrant oranges, from pumpkin to russet to fiery
NOSE – rich fruits like plums and nectarines baked until the skins are a bit toasted, bright red wine, subtle copper, a dusting of black pepper and sea salt, freshly dried oak, milk chocolate
TASTE – some baked papaya and mango added to the fruit bounty, as well as tart apricot sopping in its own juicy syrups, caramel syrup, some faint pine bark, milk chocolate
FINISH – the array of baked fruits and creamy milk chocolate linger with a fine tingly warmth
OVERALL – decadent, lively, syrupy, fun, intense
We’re indeed not at Midleton anymore. Absent are the sharp metallic and synthetic plastic notes that can sometimes mar Midleton’s triple copper pot distilled and artificially colored whiskeys. Teeling follows the Scottish tradition of double distillation, rather than the Irish triple. I must say I don’t miss that extra copper zing. Sometimes it does add positively, as with the recent Midleton Very Rare Dair Ghaelach Kylebeg Wood. But often it joins forces with oak tannins to serrate the edges of otherwise smooth and sumptuous whiskeys.
What I love here in particular is the abundance of syrupy baked fruit notes, both orchard and tropical. I’m a sucker for creamy pastries or crumbling cobblers bursting with sloppy baked fruit. This Teeling is like a dessert buffet of such things.
The port cask influence is prominent. Yet it doesn’t overwhelm the barley’s own nutty fruitiness so much as meet and greet it. The creamy milk chocolate note then flows in to add just a bit of gravitas to all the fruity sweetness. Subtle black pepper and patient oak do their part as well.
This singular cask makes for a particular introduction to Teeling. I’m now quite compelled to sample their standard releases. And as with many American distilleries that start out sourcing while their own stuff finds its legs, so too do I look forward to comparing Teeling’s own make with their superbly sourced Cooling efforts.
Sláinte!
The Right Spirit 