The Celtic Whiskey Shop - 10 years in business

On June 20th, the Celtic Whiskey Shop on Dublin's Dawson Street celebrated its tenth year in business. We all have good reason to mark the occasion because that day 10 years ago rescued whiskey from almost complete obscurity in this country.

Liquid Irish itself owes its existence to the Celtic Whiskey Shop. I have been a regular drinker of whiskey for at least 20 years but it was the shop that gave me my first taste of a whiskey that could blow me away. That was a Redbreast 15yo in 2005. I decided then to learn as much as I could about whiskey, and the shop facilitated that by hosting tastings with various distilleries.

Later, the Irish Whiskey Society was formed by people who discovered a mutual interest at these tastings (once Michael Foggarty - then working at the shop - gave us the nudge we needed).

I think it's fair to say that whiskey would have almost no profile in Ireland were it not for the steady efforts of Ally Alpine and his team to tempt and educate us. When I mention whiskey to people they often tell me about a wonderful display window they saw in Dawson Street. The shop runs a very popular series of tastings hosted by Michael Lawlor that I can thoroughly recommend (I include them on this site's events page). Ally himself leads expeditions to his native Scotland to visit some of the many distilleries there.

How does the world's best whiskey retailer celebrate 10 years in business? With not one, but two unique bottlings, of course...


Midleton Rum Cask Matured 2001 Blended Irish Whiskey
Celtic Whiskey Shop 10th Anniversary Bottling

The very first CWS single cask from Midleton was a blend and that's been followed by a yearly release of a single pot still cask. This bottling was vatted from two separate casks, one of single pot still whiskey and the other single grain whiskey. Both components were entirely matured in first-fill Caribbean rum casks.

It was distilled in 2001 and bottled only a week ago at cask strength without chill-filtration. It is the first Midleton to carry Brian Nation's signature as Master Distiller.

Tasting notes (from the Celtic Whiskey Shop):

It is fresh and juicy in character with aromas of lemon, guava, pineapple and a touch of cinnamon. 

The palate has plenty of body with citrus flavours and notes of pineapples, banana and other tropical fruits, becoming more spicy and gingery towards the finish. A fruity whiskey with some subtle influences coming from the rum casks. 

Delicious with or without a drop of water.

It's limited to 366 bottles which sell for €150.00 apiece.

Photo courtesy of the Celtic Whiskey Shop

Chief Islander's Choice Single Malt
Celtic Whiskey Shop 10th Anniversary Bottling

The Inish Turk Beg brand was put into a sort of limbo when its supply of single malt whiskey was cut off last year. The unusually shaped bottle and fruity single malt has been exceptionally popular, according to the Celtic Whiskey Shop, though there remains a limited amount in stock. The Inish Turk Beg story is not over, however, and Ally assures us that we'll hear plenty more from them in the years ahead.

A conversation with the Chief Islander of Inish Turk Beg developed into the creation of this anniversary bottling. It's a limited edition of just over 700 bottles of Cooley malt, matured for a minimum of 10 years in ex-bourbon casks. These casks also spent a number of months on the shores of Inish Turk Beg breathing in the extraordinary environment. The whiskey was bottled at 44%. It sells for €125.

Tasting notes (from the Celtic Whiskey Shop):

Nose: Delicate and fresh on the nose with aromas of orange sherbet, freshly sliced apples, pink grapefruit and fruit salad sweets. 

Palate: Fresh and fruity. Medium to full bodied with a nice mouthfeel. Flavours of orange peel, ripe apples, lemon curd, ginger snaps and tropical fruits. 

Finish: Dry and long lasting with vanilla and a touch of spiced apples coming through at the end.  A very good whiskey, fresh and packed full of vibrant fruit flavours.

Photo courtesy of the Celtic Whiskey Shop

Echlinville Distillery

Northern Ireland has been teasing us for a while with reports of planned distilleries in Belfast and Derry. In early June, however, Echlinville Distillery on the Ards Peninsula comfortably beat its city rivals to production as the first spirit trickled off its still.

It is only the second distillery in the North (the other being Bushmills) and the first to receive a licence to distil there in around 130 years.

Shane Braniff is the guy behind it. He created the Feckin Irish Whiskey and Strangford Gold Irish Whiskey brands in the mid-noughties. Feckin has been doing very well. It is sold in France, Norway, England, Australia, Sweden and approximately 20 states of the US.

The liquid was made by Cooley but Beam turned the taps off for independent labels when they took over. That brought forward Shane's existing plans to start a distillery and he already had the perfect location for it - the 18-acre Echlinville estate, just outside Kircubbin.

The estate house is a listed building, "a large Italianate gentleman's residence, constructed in the 1850s around the fabric of an earlier, house of c. 1725, which in turn was built around a seventeenth century dwelling."

Photo courtesy of Echlinville Distillery

The stables, courtyard and campanile are also listed and these will be restored to accommodate a visitors centre, shop, restaurant, museum and staff quarters. The distillery itself will be housed in a new building.

Photo courtesy of Echlinville Distillery

Shane is taking advantage of his family's farming background and his own experience in cereal production to grow malting barley for the distillery's exclusive use. A hundred acres has already been planted.

There is just the one still fired up at the moment, though more are on order. Maturing spirit will be warehoused locally, taking advantage of the "unique micro climate" of the Ards Peninsula which, they tell me, is ideally suited to ageing whiskey.

Of course we'll have to wait some years to taste whiskey from Echlinville but they promise other products in the interim. What they will be, I don't know, but Echlinville's Jarlath Watson assures me that he'll keep me informed as they come off the still.

Just as an aside, I have been taking more of an interest in apples these days as Irish cider makers start to experiment with making apple brandy. There is a cooking apple variety called Ecklinville that originated on the Echlinville estate at least as far back as 1800. I'm betting there will be a good whiskey and apple dessert on the distillery restaurant menu.

New look Irishman Whiskey and a new 12 year old

As I write, Bernard Walsh and Shane Fitzharris of The Irishman Whiskey are at Vinexpo in Bordeaux, launching a new look, and a new whiskey.

The Irishman 70 is now The Irishman Founder's Reserve. There should be no more debates about the composition of this whiskey since it's now clearly written on the label: "70% aged single malt and 30% single pot still whiskey".

Official tasting notes:

Fragrant notes of green apple and honey give way to pot still spice and summer fruits with a deep finish fading into spiced oak and butterscotch.

The Irishman Single Malt remains. It never had a prominent age statement though it used to say in the small print that it was aged for over a decade. It doesn't say that on the label now but it's still a combination of triple-distilled malt aged in sherry and bourbon casks.

Official tasting notes:

Toffee and vanilla give way to toasted almonds, honey and floral aromas with a long, decadent finish enhanced with oak and dark chocolate.

And then there is the new Irishman Single Malt, 12 Year Old. This is all first-fill bourbon cask and bottled at 43%. It's limited to 6,000 bottles.

The official tasting notes:

The influence of 1st fill bourbon cask gives a light sweet spicy note of vanilla, cinnamon and even a tincture of clove. The initial sip is a burst of rich flavours, sweet with vanilla and delicately bolstered by black peppercorns. This gently gives way to succulent fruits leaving behind a lingering flavour of grassy cereal notes.

There was a preview of this 12 year old late last year. It had a similar profile but, of course, was a distinct and much smaller batch.

On the rebranding, the press release says:

Following extensive work with London & New York based The Futures Company the brand took to the streets in New York, Hamburg and Seoul, for in-depth reviews and focus groups. From this the message of "Making it Personal" has become the heart of the brand positioning of The Irishman.

The objective was to elevate The Irishman brand identity to compete in design and image with the world's greatest whiskeys while conveying the ethos of using craft distillation and quality ingredients to produce the smoothest of award winning whiskeys.

Shane tells me that the new branding will be exclusively available in duty free in Ireland for the month of July and will hit domestic retail (the Celtic Whiskey Shop, etc) on August 5th, by which time they also hope to have a new Cask Strength release.

Teeling Silver Reserve 21 Year Old Single Malt

The Teeling Whiskey Company today launched it's Silver Reserve 21 Year Old Single Malt. This is the first in a series of three small batch releases containing some of the oldest single malt Irish whiskey ever bottled. Still to come are a 25-year old ("Gold") and a 30-year old ("Platinum").

It's a double-distilled Irish single malt, but you shouldn't draw any conclusion from that as to where, precisely, it was made. It was distilled in 1991 and matured first in bourbon casks. It was then allowed to marry for 10 months in Sauternes casks (Sauternes is a sweet French white wine) before bottling at 46%. It is the first ever Irish whiskey finished in Sauternes.

There are only 5,000 bottles in this limited release and it will sell for about €150 (USD$185 / GBP£125). It's initially available in Ireland at Dublin Airport, the Celtic Whiskey Shop and quality independent off licences. It will then be rolled out to international markets such as the UK, Canada, Belgium, Germany and France.

"From Fields of Gold" - Irish whiskey conference

Youghal, in County Cork, is hosting a two-day conference on Irish whiskey on September 28th/29th. I met the conference chairman, John Kelly, at a recent society tasting and he was kind enough to give me a preview of what we can look forward to. I've included a list of the talks below. The comments are my own.

The Distinctiveness of Richard Boyle as first Earl of Cork
Prof Nicholas Canny (NUI Galway)
We know Cork was already making the good stuff 400 years ago because Richard Boyle gave Sir Walter Raleigh 32 gallons of Irish whiskey as he set off for the New World.

Whiskey Worlds: glimpses into the lives of some Cork distilling families
Dr Alicia St Leger

'There's whiskey in the jar': some thoughts on the history of the Irish distilling industry 1800-1922
Dr Andy Bielenberg
Dr Bielenberg is the author of Locke's Distillery, a History.

Cats, Bats and Whiskey - Establishing a Corporate Archive for Irish Distillers
Stephen Franck
Irish Distillers has quite recently begun to collect and preserve historical material related to its brands and former distilleries. No doubt there is much surprising detail to be mined from this archive so I'll be interested to hear what has turned up.

Innovation: the success of Irish Distilling
Barry Crockett
Barry Crockett is the recently retired Master Distiller at Midleton, a legend in the business.

The Rise and Fall and Rise again of Irish Whiskey
Peter Mulryan
Peter Mulryan is a well-known writer on Irish whiskey.

Cakes and ale: the role of bread and beer in the domestic economy of medieval monasteries
Br Colmán Ó Clabaigh OSB
Brother Ó Clabaigh of Glenstal Abbey reminds us that it was the monks who brought distillation to Ireland in the first place.

Imageries, sensualities and the Water of Life: Harry Clarke's illustrations for Messrs John Jameson & Sons
Dr Anglea Griffith
I came across Harry Clarke's illustrations for a 1924 John Jameson promotional booklet in the National Library. I only knew of him as a stained glass artist before that. Dr Griffith, from the Department of the History of Art and Architecture, TCD, will introduce his illustrative work.

Johnny Jumped Up!: Whiskey in the Irish song tradition
Dr Dáibhí Ó Cearnaigh

There will also be a walking tour of Youghal, an excursion to the Old Midleton Distillery, and a "Whiskey-themed conference dinner".

It all adds up to an unmissable weekend for me!