2021 release, 46% ABV, Natural colour, unchill filtered, Grand Cru Edition, Reichsrat Von Buhl, Riesling cask finish, 3000 bottles (app. £38 / €45)
When talking about the new wave of Irish distilleries, it is simply impossible to not talk about Teeling. They are arguably the ‘leader of the pack’ when it comes to distilleries embodying the revival of the Irish whiskey landscape. And while they probably need little introduction, I ‘ll give it a shot at summarizing what they’re about.
To talk about Teeling, one needs to talk about Cooley distillery first. Like many other distilleries, it was in a bit of a sorry state when John Teeling bought it in the late 1980’ies and what was left of it was hardly adjusted for malt distilling as it thus far had served as an industrial plant mainly distilling potatoes to produce alcohol for Smirnoff, but as a supplement to petrol as well. As there were no warehouse facilities, John Teeling consequently purchased Kilbeggan, yet another mothballed distillery, scoring a triple whammy in the process: not only did he have a place to mature his spirits, he could also use its far better known name for his whisky brands, as the name ‘Cooley’ meant next to nothing to the Irish whiskey consumer. And because Cooley distillery is anything but a looker, the far more picturesque Kilbeggan with its 200 year old warehouses could attract tourists and visitors. From Kilbeggan onwards he then started to (re)introduce new and long forgotten brands - all produced at Cooley - with Connemara and Tyrconnell probably being the best known of the lot.
Fast forward to 2011: Cooley is doing well for itself, and John Teeling was looking to sell. Beam (now Beam Suntory) acquired both Cooley and Kilbeggan, and the Teeling family now firmly had their eyes and thoughts focussed on Dublin. Once thriving and buzzing with distilleries like Jameson and Powers, the days of distilling in Ireland’s capital were long gone as sine the early 1960’ies all production was moved to Midleton in Cork, leaving a Jameson museum as a last memorial to what once was. Until 2015, that is, when John Teeling’s sons Jack and Stephen opened a new distillery in Newmarket, pretty much in the heart of Dublin’s old distillery district. The first new distillery to open in Dublin in 125 years was a fact! And because they negotiated a good deal with Beam where they could take a decent amount of Cooley stock with them to the new Teeling distillery, they could pretty much start releasing (soured) whisky under the new Teeling name from day 1, while their own spirit was quietly maturing until ready for bottling, or to be of old enough age to be blended with the Cooley stock.
So while most of the current core range (as well as some of the special and limited releases like this Riesling cask) from Teeling are NAS whiskeys, chances are it will be made off a mixture from young Teeling whiskey and some older whiskey coming from their Cooley stock (notice how the words ‘single’ or ‘malt’ are nowhere to be seen on the label of this bottle).
For those of you not overly familiar with Riesling wine: you may have already suspected that it has a certain ‘German’ ring to it. Indeed, the white Riesling grapes are traditionally grown in the Elzas/Alsace region in the North- East of France and just over the border with Germany in the region of the Rhine river. It is famous and praised for its versatility, as it caters to both dry, elegant wines and a much sweeter style of white wine as well. The Germans often refer to it as the queen of grapes. The Reichsrat von Buhl winery where Teeling soured their casks from, is located in the Rheinland-Pfalz region in western Germany. It’s still a family run business that’s been around for over 150 years and over that time they have established themselves as one of the leading companies in German whiskymaking. So with those pretty high credentials in mind, I’m now quite curious to see how German Riesling casks respond to some Irish whiskey. Let’s tuck in!
Nose
A bit spirit-y and grainy at first. A fresh, grassy style, and then those white fruit notes roll in: grapes and melon, yet also some soft sweet berries like raspberry and strawberry. A creamy sensation with a whiff of banana. Young and youthful overall. Might be due to the power of suggestion, but when trying to find the wine cask influence, I picked up a vineyard note too.
Taste
Dry arrival, with a medium full mouthfeel. The nose translates nicely in to the palate with those white fruit (grape) and grassy notes clearly at the front of things. Mid palate there’s a nice vanilla like sweetness going into a granulated sugar note and again that vineyard element now manifesting itself as an autumn like note with ferns and leaves.
Finish
Fairly short, all in all. Herbal and grassy, with a dry sweetness.
I’m definitely not the biggest Teeling fan out there – some of their whiskies I’ve really enjoyed, some were a bit (too) middle of the road or pedestrian to really win me over. This however, is quite interesting. It’s a fairly soft and gentle whiskey, and should you sip this is as an easy background whiskey, you’d probably enjoy it without giving it too much thought. And while it’s definitely not super complex or wildly fascinating, should you take your time and ‘analyse’ it a bit more, I feel it’s got enough going on in terms of flavour and development to lift it up a bit. 81/100
Comments