Bottled by the Hennessy brand of cognac fame. The famous brand was founded by Richard Hennessy, who hailed from north Cork. In 1724, he hitched a ride to France with King Louis XV and eventually settled near the town of Cognac. The rest is history. This particular bottling was produced for the Japanese market around the turn of the millennium. It is a youngish Cooley, more Tyrconnell than Connamara. Because of some French court ruling, it was never available in Europe, so this bottle has travelled around the world to get back to Ireland...
When this was first launched back in the 1970s, it was a very, very rare peated Irish whiskey. The last incarnation, however, is a blend of Bushmills and Midleton malt, as well as some grain. This is also a very rare combination. Unfortunately, this was discontinued about 10 years ago, despite being quite popular amongst those in the know...
A blend of 6-10 year old Bourbons from two different distilleries. This is a silky smooth Bourbon with touches of toasty oak, vanilla, ginger, cherries and honey...
Rich and full bodied with an earthy, rooty flavour profile. This incorporates notes of heather honey, chocolate, aromatic smoke, old oak and walnuts. ..
Chosen by Jack Teeling for the Hotel Essener Hof Historic Series, this single malt was finished in a port pipe, yielding 281 bottles. It shows nice spice and sweetness, along with some jammy red fruits...
No. 2 in the Hotel Essener Hof Historic Series, this was matured in rum casks. Not unlike the Teeling Revival... Displays spicy citrus flavours. Uncoloured and not chill filtered...
Aged in small barrels which accelerate the maturation process but also add more sappy and chewy oak flavours. This is a complex, rich and spicy bourbon, not entirely flawless but very good nonetheless. ..
A great rye that unsurprisingly makes a great Manhattan. This is smooth, spciy and rich with flavours of black cherries, seasoned oak, pepper, burnt sugar, and maple syrup. ..
A light and soft single grain with flavours of vanilla, honey, popcorn along with a subtle touch of spicy oak. Partly matured in Jack Daniels barrels. Incredibly easy to drink...
Sadly Imperial distillery no longer exists and this is therefore quite special. A lovely malt with touches of tropical fruits, oatcakes, orange peel and ginger. ..
The Inish Turk Beg is a unique Irish whiskey that has been partly matured in poitin barrels on the island of the same name. Just 2888 bottles were made of this limited edition Maiden Voyage edition...
The first peated blend since the old Hewitts whiskey from Irish Distillers Ltd. It wasn't created to take on Scottish blends, as such, but it offers an Irish alternative. It's also an homage to the distillers of old, dotted around the mountains of the Inishowen Peninsula in Co Donegal who would have dried their malt using burning peat. It's 30% peated malt with the rest made up of Cooley grain...
From a distillery that was never easy to source single malts from, Inverleven malt distillery closed 1991 and has since been demolised. This is a fresh and fruity malt with lots of oak influence, ginger, vanilla and warm spice flavours...
Another rare type of blend from the people behind the Walsh Distillery in Co. Carlow. Bernard Walsh has vatted malt (70%) and single pot still (30%) and come up with a lovely creamy, spicy whiskey. The pot still component is from the Midleton Distillery and was matured in ex-bourbon casks. The malt is from Bushmills...
The Irishman Rare Cask is on of relatively few cask-strength Irish whiskeys, particularly from an Irish homegrown label. The brand was created by the people behind the emerging Walsh Whiskey Distillery in Co. Carlow. The casks in this blend were chosen by distillery owner Bernard Walsh. It's quite a rare malt-pot still blend, featuring whiskeys from Midleton and Bushmills. This version was released in 2009...