Tullamore Dew Cider Cask Finish

"More apples, dammit!" 

The Director of Product Strategy paused to chomp deeply on a Cox's Orange Pippin. 

"We've made whiskey that smells of apple. We've served it up with apple juice. We're really close on this, people. We just need a touch more apple."

...

That is how I imagine the challenge was laid out for the boffins at Tullamore Dew HQ last summer. The solution they came up with: the cider finish.

About 100 casks were assembled near the end of October in a warehouse in Clonmel. They were filled with freshly pressed Irish apple juice which was allowed to ferment naturally. The resulting cider was decanted in mid-January and replaced with already-blended Tullamore Dew Original whiskey. After a further three months finishing, here it is: Tullamore Dew Cider Cask.

It's available exclusively in global travel retail (it's already at Dublin Airport) and at the Tullamore Dew Visitor Centre in Tullamore. It comes in one-litre bottles for a recommended retail price of €54 (€35 duty free).

Sour apples (or cooking apples, as we know them around here) were selected for the cider, to play well against the whiskey. How did it work out? The official tasting notes emphasise the apple:

Nose 

Fresh, leafy, crisp green apple scent and sweet maltiness. 

Taste 

Distinctive – soft and mellow, with a lovely balance of oak, creamy malt and sweet, fresh apple notes. Light-bodied, with a fruity vibrancy. 

Finish 

A sweet, lingering taste carrying subtle fruity notes.

But apple is not the most prominent aspect for me. Putting it alongside Tullamore Dew Original (they are both 40% so the only difference is the extra few months in cider cask), the nose for me is a lot more honeyed, the mouthfeel more buttery and the finish warmer and biscuity. The Original still pokes through so if you like that you should enjoy the Cider Cask too.

I'd like to taste the cider effect on more rounded starting point, like Tullamore Dew 12yo. The Original is young and shouty enough that it doesn't lie down easily. The tart cider has proved surprisingly self-effacing.

The cider, by the way, hasn't been wasted. It's currently enjoying a secondary ("malolactic") fermentation in a huge vat at a cider maker I can't name. I sampled a little. It's still quite acidic but it'll probably appear as a component in some future bottled cider.

If the Cider Cask finish proves popular, this will be an annual release. I certainly hope the experimentation continues, perhaps with other varieties of apple, different whiskeys, or further ageing. More apples!

An Púcán / Teeling Single Cask Single Malt

The revival of Irish whiskey is usually quantified as the number of working and planned distilleries. One indicator I'd like to hear is the number of whiskey bars in Ireland, where a "whiskey bar" would have a minimum of, say, 100 whiskeys on the shelf. (And, of course, bar staff who can explain the virtues of each.)

The supply of whiskey is assured into the distant future but we have hardly begun to stimulate a matching demand. As the fresh spirit is laid down, we need to be forging new whiskey drinkers ready to soak it up.

The small craft producers will need a local fan base to support their work in the early days and to act as unpaid evangelists at home, abroad and on social media. The responsibility for recruiting this volunteer army rests with the bars of Ireland.

Some have already embraced the task. An Púcán, in the centre of Galway city, for example.

Photo courtesy of An Púcán

I haven't been in Galway since the bar was relaunched in June last year but, as I understand it, this is the standard welcome for first-time visitors...

Eoin. Photo courtesy of An Púcán

The bar stocks over 200 whiskeys. The emphasis is on Irish but Scotland, America, Japan and others are accorded generous shelf space too. During the Rugby Six Nations, the pub brought in whiskeys from each country and held tasting battles. Customers can enjoy food matched with whiskey or attend whiskey-related events such as a recent talk on The History of Distilling in Galway.

An Púcán has considerable whiskey cred, obviously. But they recently kicked it up one more notch with their very own whiskey. It's a single cask, single malt produced especially for the pub by the Teeling Whiskey Company.

Photo courtesy of An Púcán

It was distilled in 2002, spending most of its life in a bourbon cask before being transferred to a Carcavelos white port pipe for 12 months. To my knowledge it's the only Irish whiskey ever finished thus. It was bottled in March (making it 13 years old) at cask strength (56%) in a very limited edition of 140 bottles. It sells for €125, or €12.50 per measure at the bar.

The tasting notes on the bottle are:

Nose
White chocolate with citrus zest and a subtle fruit sweetness. 

Taste
Exceptional mouth feel - rich, warm and inviting. Lemon meringue, subtle soft spice with vanilla and toffee notes. 

Finish
Warm and satisfyingly long with gentle toasted oak and spice.

Cyril Briscoe, of An Púcán, very generously gave me a bottle to try. I liked it with a little water, which brought apples and strawberry jam out on the nose and enhanced that lingering gentle toasted oak.

It's a Teeling-labeled bottle with An Púcán branding. The small print additionally dubs the whiskey Revival. Teeling have literally revived distilling in Dublin but the tag can apply equally well to the renewed appreciation for whiskey shown by pubs like An Púcán and then instilled in the rest of us.

The back bar at An Púcán. Photo courtesy of An Púcán. 

One of many whiskey cabinets. Photo courtesy of An Púcán.

The coin wall. Photo courtesy of An Púcán.

The stairway to heaven. Photo courtesy of An Púcán.

Green Spot Château Léoville Barton

If we were taking bets on the next "Spot" whiskey to follow Green Spot and Yellow Spot, the smart money would have favoured Red, with Blue attracting few takers at very long odds. I wish I had been running that book because Irish Distillers surprised all of us yesterday with a wine-finished Green Spot instead.

A few years ago the official line from Midleton distillery would have been "we don't do finishes". Last year, though, we had the beer-finished Jameson Caskmates, which was more of a happy accident than something planned. More recently we had the Midleton Dair Ghaelach, pot still whiskey transferred to Irish oak casks for the final 10 months of maturation. Again, that might be ascribed to special circumstances: the need to experiment with the new type of wood, the heavy effect of virgin oak, etc.

The new Green Spot Château Léoville Barton puts finishes firmly on the menu once and for all. It's regular Green Spot that has been vatted together from ex-oloroso sherry and ex-bourbon casks, then transferred to red wine barriques from a Bordeaux winery. After 12 to 24 months resting in these casks, Midleton's master blender, Billy Leighton, constructs the final bottling.

The new whiskey was launched at an event in Bordeaux layered with significance. The Spot range of pot still whiskeys was created by one of Dublin's traditional wine importers and whiskey bonders, Mitchell & Son, founded in 1805. It's still a family-run enterprise, with Robert and Jonathan Mitchell making the trip to Château Léoville Barton yesterday. The winery is also a family affair, overseen by Anthony and Lilian Barton, direct descendants of Irishman, Thomas Barton, who founded a wine merchant company there in 1725.

The new whiskey recalls and updates the historic links between Ireland and France, and between whiskey and wine production in the two countries.

The new Green Spot is bottled at a higher strength (46%) than the classic version (40%). It'll be available from this month in five markets ("including Ireland, the UK and France" - I don't know why they don't just list all five in the press release). RRP is €65. Depending on sales and the reaction from the whiskey community, it might become a permanent part of the single pot still range.

I'm very much looking forward to trying it. Here's what to expect, according to Kevin O’Gorman, Master of Maturation at the Midleton Distillery:

Maturing Green Spot in the Château Léoville Barton wine casks provided a fascinating assortment of floral and wood characteristics on the nose and palate, which give way to a long, spicy finish reminiscent of the terroir in France and Ireland.

The official tasting notes come from Master Blender, Billy Leighton:

Nose 

It is the contribution of the French oak which drives the initial aroma adding some crisp woodland notes to the spicy Single Pot Still character. The wine seasoning brings a delicate touch of floral perfume and a hint of ripe berries such as raspberries and strawberries, these are in addition to the orchard fruits typical of Green Spot. 

Taste 

The familiar mouth coating effect is a very satisfying balance of oak and spices. Some vanilla sweetness works in harmony with the dry wine influence, while the fresh orchard fruits and French oak combine effortlessly with barley grains to complete the complexity. 

Finish 

The rich French oak character is slow to fade leaving the wine and spices of France and Ireland with the last word.

Now, here's a fun serving suggestion. If you are passing through Terminal 1 at Dublin Airport, after you pick up your Green Spot at the Irish Whiskey Collection, check out the adjacent retail area, known as The Wine Goose Chase. This is a unique collection of wines with Irish connections curated by wine expert, Susan Boyle. (If the Irish wine story fascinates you, go see Susan's touring theatrical show on this very subject!)

On the shelves there you will find Château Léoville Barton's eponymous wine, along with La Reserve de Léoville Barton. It would be a fascinating experiment to try original Green Spot, the wine, and the wine-finished Green Spot side-by-side.

The Wine Goose Chase at Dublin Airport

Whiskey Class at the Dingle Whiskey Bar

One of the attractions of whiskey drinking as a lifelong pursuit is the sure knowledge there are always fresh flavours yet to be discovered. But the same infinite variety can be daunting when approaching whiskey for the first time.

Last week I was at the Dingle Whiskey Bar in Nassau Street, Dublin, for their weekly tasting event. If you live in the city and have been meaning to get better acquainted with the spirit, start freeing up your Tuesday evenings because the moment for action has arrived.

Mr Fionnán O'Connor has a residency there for the next while, and there is nobody on this island who speaks more enthusiastically or knowledgeably on the topic than the guy who literally wrote the book on Irish pot still whiskey. He also conducts the occasional all-day walking tour of Dublin, revealing the traces of a once-mighty whiskey industry, along with signs of its revival. He's both a friend and fellow member of the Irish Whiskey Society.

Each Tuesday, Fionnán plucks five bottles from the bar's shelves (there are currently 165 to choose from) to illustrate some aspect of whiskey making. When I was there, for example, the theme was the effect of cask seasoning on maturation. So we tried Redbreast 12yo (with its sherry cask influence), Tyrconnell 10yo Port Finish, Tyrconnell 10yo Madeira Finish, Tullamore Dew 10yo Single Malt (which combines bourbon, port, sherry and madeira casks) and Yellow Spot (which features malaga wine casks).

This week, the theme was the impact of oak. The varying line-up is a good excuse to return week after week. It's an education, painlessly administered.

Regardless of the selected theme, Fionnán will explain exactly what you are drinking, and how and where it was made, with historical digressions, literary references and potted bios of whiskey personalities. Ask him anything and you'll get an honest, unbiased answer. These tastings are not sponsored by any whiskey company and so are free of the marketing noise that often obscures and distracts.

It's €18 for each tasting, bookable online (you could also try showing up to see if there are seats free). I thoroughly recommend the experience and, if it sounds like your thing, try to catch at least one while Fionnán is hosting, before he moves on to other things.