Review 216. Whatever happened to the Irish Whiskey Revival? (an outsider’s perspective)

I think everyone is up to speed on the sad news that came from Waterford late last year. Even if you consider the fact that Waterford is/was arguably the least ‘typically Irish’ distillery of the new wave of Irish whiskey (the paradox being their strong emphasis on locality, terroir and single farm origins of their malt  - which they then, personal opinion here, made an absolute mess off by needlessly  complicating things by NOT sticking to the whole single farm thing when making the actual whiskey), the announcement of their bankruptcy must ‘ve come as quite the eyeopener to some people.

I fully admit that I’m by no means up to date on all that’s happening within the Irish whiskey scene, but it seems that whatever is left of the excitement that was until fairly recently been broadcast and experienced by many involved, now comes in quite short supply. And, again I emphasize this is coming from someone who only observes things from a distance, I fear the Irish will have their work cut out getting their sails back in fair winds.

For starters, there’s the general feeling of ‘new whisky fatigue’. Pre covid, during covid and, for a short while post covid, the sky was the proverbial limit for all things whisk(e)y and new distilleries were popping up everywhere like mushrooms in an autumn forest. Arguably the revival of the Irish whiskey industry was right up there with the Scottish ‘new wave’ of 21st century distilleries. Teeling, Dingle, West Cork (who were likely the first as they’ve been around for 21 years already) and, indeed, Waterford were paving the way for many others to follow. And I do mean ‘many’ as before Waterford’s closing, there were some 36 operational distilleries across Ireland and Northern Ireland and a few dozen more in various stages of planning and building, whereas not even 20 years ago you could count them on the fingers of one hand. It’s fair to say the general optimism has been faced by quite severe reality checks.

But there’s more. THE juggernaut of Irish Whiskey,  Pernod Ricard’s Midleton, decided that, when all the signs were there that there would once again be an abundant amount of Irish Whiskey available, the time was right to maximise their profits. I think we all know how something like Red Breast 12 cask strength went from being cracking good pot still whiskey at a fair price to being still cracking pot still whiskey at a premium price. They did the same to the 12 yo Yellow Spot, the Power’s 12 yo and probably to half of everything  else they have  in their portfolio. Granted, they weren’t the only ones who’ve been bumping up the retail prices for their (40!) various brands, but when you consider the output of this huge  booze plant, capable of producing some 70 million LPA (I’m assuming that’s their pot still and column still capacity combined), it suggests a quite deliberate premiumisation of some of their whiskeys. Now, for smaller scale operations like Dingle, who produce roughly 2 casks worth of spirit each day, you’d understand why a bottle of their core range would cost €60-ish but Midleton being the market leader, knew damn well that  their pricing policy would tend to  ‘rub off’ and when the decided to bump up prices, many other whiskey brands would follow  their lead, up to a point where I feel quite a lot of Irish whiskey brands have now simply priced themselves out of the market.

However, the thing that made me more or less  disconnect with Irish whiskey in recent years is the fact that it’s hard to say what’s what at the moment. By which I mean that in the past 10 or so years, we’ve witnessed dozens and dozens of new brands suddenly claiming their spot in the sunlight. Without exception, all have been releasing sourced stuff, likely from either Midleton, Cooley (essentially what gave Teeling lift off, but there are quite a few others as well) and Great Northern Distillery. The latter’s only been around for a decade or so, but produce some 16 million LPA (pot still and column stills combined with app. a 1 to 3 ratio, but overall that’s still 1 million more than what comes out of the new Macallan distillery), making quite a few of the smaller scale upstarts come knocking on their door to source whiskey for their own brands. Now, as such, I don’t really mind anyone sourcing spirit from elsewhere to help you set up shop. It’s a great way of getting product out to create revenue to help you build your own stock. But in many cases there’s an almost shocking lack of transparency about the whole thing. Vague wordings on labels is the least of the problem, as sometimes they are downright withholding information, all to suggest that it’s been distilled, matured and sometimes even bottled at this new shining, exciting distillery, while all the while the vast majority of these 30-ish new distilleries and brands are relying on new make or (semi-)matured product from the same 3 or 4 distilleries.

It feels ingenuine and misleading, to say the least. As many of the new wave of Irish distilleries were established somewhere between 2015 and 2020, obviously, hopefully, this is a thing that will (and to a certain extend it already has) sort itself out in due time. But from my own point of view (I obviously can’t speak for anyone else) the way many of the new wave of Irish whiskey makers and distilleries try and create this fake sense of authenticity or tradition, tarnishes their reputation a bit. Selling a brand is selling a story, I get that, it’s basically marketing 101, but in this day and age being vague or sometimes even downright untruthful about that story, making claims that either hold  no or very little ground, or that are trying to build authenticity, provenance  or tradition by association: it’s just not the way forward. And it begs the question: how will they try and make their own product be ‘in line’ or similar with the stuff they were sourcing? Will they feel the need to try and strive for continuity? And if so, how would that separate them from all those others who’ve also been sourcing their stuff from those same 3 distilleries? Or will they go for ‘tabula rasa’ by making a clean and deliberate break between sourced whiskey and their own product? And if so, how are they going to ‘sell’ this change in style to their customers? It’s clear that whiskey, particularly pot still produced whiskey, is a batch product and variation is therefore a given, but when you finally release your own stuff and it differs significantly from what you were releasing previously makes for an entirely different story.

It's possible I am well overthinking this, but the combo of (deliberately) overpriced whiskey with if not ingenuine than at least quite confusing background stories doesn’t seem like a solid foundation to build a new future upon. Especially when there’s external threats and difficulties a plenty looming all over the whisky industry in general, the stamina of fake claims is one the Irish industry can do without, surely.

Going through the sample boxes, I found a bunch of older samples from established Irish distilleries alongside some newer ones – possibly (likely) sourced. (I wanted to include some non-sourced Irish Whiskey from the new wave of Irish distilleries, but I feel I’ve already claimed quite a bit of your time, so I’ll just refer to a few here and here.)  I’ll line them up, see what’s what and at the end of the day I may need to settle for the adage that ‘if it tastes good, everything else is of secondary importance.’ Or do I?

The ‘old stuff’: Jameson 12 yo and Connemara 15 yo (courtesy of Greg’s Whisky Guide)

The new stuff, on both sides of the spectrum in terms of price and in terms of transparency: Natterjack blended Irish Whiskey and Fercullen Five Elements 20 yo single malt

Jameson 12 yo blended Irish Whiskey (Midleton Distillery). 43% ABV, bottled for La Maison Du Whiskey, 2005 release

Nose

 Quite full and rich. Miles away from your bog standard supermarket Jameson available everywhere any time, in fact. Confectionary (bordering on artificial) sweet and fruit notes. Nutty, with a whiff of dough and plasticine and chewing gum. Plums and raisins in there too. Give it 10 or so minutes and sweet cereals pop up,  accentuating that slightly artificial sweetness and ‘betraying’ the grain component in this blend. Pleasant, inviting and, while quite busy, also (very much so) easy-going.

Palate

Rich and fruity (again those plums, raisins and sultanas) with distinct notes of toffee, treacle and chocolate, and some coffee as well. Again quite rich and flavourful, and this contrasts a bit with the somewhat thin and light mouthfeel. That said,  that’s the only point of critique I could possibly have about this. Utterly decent and very quaffable.

Finish

Not long, not short, but definitely clinging, echoing those rich notes from the palate.

Final thoughts

They don’t make ‘m like these anymore. And ain’t that the truth…

Connemara 15 yo (1992 – 2008 – Cooley Distillery), 46% ABV

Nose

Peaty and medicinal and underneath quite some citrus (think lemons and lemon sherbet). The peat is clearly there, but it’s well in check and there’s little to no smoke. Cold tea and gentle spices (pepper, some salt) and equally gentle notes of sugar and vanilla.

Palate

Spices (pepper again) and (green) fruit delivering soft sweetness on the arrival. The peat is even more soft on the palate and comes across as gently ashy. Seeing how this is quite pale, I’m assuming little if none at all artificial colouring and  bourbon casks were involved here. Overall a quite gentle spirit was treated with some  lesser active casks which don’t seem inclined to make a huge mark or impact, but are there to harmonize things quietly and subtly over the course of 1.5 decade.

Finish

Medium long, ashy and echoes of the sweetness.

Final thoughts

 A lovely balanced whisky with a distinctive yet well – in – check peat element to please even those who ‘don’t like peated whisky’. interesting and compelling whisky yet with a low threshold, making it very accessible (possibly bear the current asking prices for these yesteryear bottlings, obviously). Let’s  put these head to head with a few (sourced) newbies, then.

Natterjack triple distilled Irish blended Whiskey. Ex bourbon and virgin oak casks (distilled for Gortinore distillers & Co.), 40% ABV, app. €35 -€45 (£30-£35)

The shy mentioning on the side of the label ‘distilled for…’ implies this is sourced whiskey, but you wouldn’t guess it by visiting the Natterjack website. Their ‘story’  is all about words like ‘pioneering spirits’, ‘adventure’, ‘new whisky traditions’, ‘true authenticity’, ‘challenging the status quo’ etc… You get the drift. Nowhere does it say they sourced this stuff, nowhere does it say they are an actual distillery (pretty sure they’re not and the address on the website takes you to the heart of Dublin where it’s one bar next to the other). I’m absolutely OK with that, source way and by all means  take pride and honour in creating something by blending it all together and making it work. Blending something decent is bloody difficult, after all. But the clichés in the branding combined with  the lack of transparency are just borderline ridiculous. Add to that the ‘indigenous to Ireland’ claim referring to the natterjack toad (authenticity through association, remember?), throw in the fact that there is nothing about 40% ABV blended whiskey even remotely ‘challenging’ any ‘status quo’  and it becomes downright hilarious. I’m not here to down talk these people (after all it’s reasonably priced and the proof of the pudding remains in the actual eating of the damn thing), so let’s get right to it.

Nose

Slightly floral and grassy. Light (yet not thin) character. Hints of grain and quite a bit of fruit: sweet apples and orchard fruit and apricot. Granulated sugar – pleasant, but also almost sickly sweet.

Palate

Again, that sweetness and that grassy – floral note, which I often get from triple distilled Irish whiskey. The mouthfeel is light and a bit thin – probably down to the minimal ABV. Towards the back of the palate things get a bit ‘autumnal’ with hints of leaves.

Finish

Short and dry. That mixture of sugary sweetness and grassy autumnal notes lingers on briefly.

Final thoughts

Despite all the red flags, I have to say I quite enjoyed it for what it is. Light and easy-going stuff, fairly priced, something to absent mindedly pour and enjoy during a poker night with some friends.

Fercullen Five Elements 20 yo Irish Single Malt (16 years in bourbon casks and 4 years in oloroso, PX, Marsala and muscatel casks). Powerscourt distillery. 46% ABV. 2021 release and app. €200, 1500 bottles and still available.

Powerscourt distillery was founded in 2017 and became operational in October of 2018. With stills purchased from Forsyths in Rothes, Speyside and under guidance of Noel Seeney who earned his stripes at Cooley. Capable of producing some 3 million LPA they currently ‘settle’ on producing not even 10% of that (some 280,000 litres per year), of both double and triple distilled spirit,  75% of which is used to make single malt and the remaining 25% used to make pot still whiskey. (Incidentally, do you notice the difference in factual, useful information being provided here compared to the toad whiskey?) As they became operational in 2018, they recently started (I think it was in 2023) to release their own whiskey. Prior to this  they too relied on sourced whiskey – with an 18 and a 21 year old as a sort of ‘core range’. This 20 yo is obviously sourced whiskey as well, and, while not disclosed,  with the connection between the two distilleries, it at least seems plausible if this came from Cooley.

Nose

Rich fruit notes from plums, raisins and sweet berries. Jammy - marmalade like as well with a dose of chocolate and a bit of toffee as well. Underneath that typical grassy – floral note. The faintest of salinity. It suggests an excellence balance and development.

Palate

 Rich, yet, surprisingly, also a bit sharp on the arrival. The grassy element is still there, but it all but gets buried under a rich array of other flavours. Warming, gentle spices and a whiff of tobacco and wood, coffee, chocolate and again a whole bag of those fruit notes from the nose. It’s cracking good stuff this, and if I would need to come up with one point of ‘criticism’, is that due to the use of 5 different cask types, I couldn’t particularly recognise a distillery character, so, much so that I couldn’t even find something suggesting a certain  ‘Irishness’ about this. Believe me when I say that I’m absolutely nitpicking here, because this is absolutely excellent stuff. Great balance, and a wonderful delivery of flavours.

Finish

Long. Lovely. Warming spices and dried fruit.

Final thoughts

Wonderful, but expensive and perhaps not recognisable as an Irish, even?

Final final thoughts

The whole lengthy intro wasn’t meant as me going on a little rant against what’s happening in the Irish Whiskey Industry, but in the aftermath of Waterford throwing in the towel not even 10 years after they started out, I am generally concerned about what’s to come. To whisky in general, but possibly even more about to what might happen with some of the new wave of Irish distilleries as a lot of them are barely passed the stage of infancy. Needlessly complicating things is, I’ll argue,  part of the reason Waterford wasn’t the success it could have been, and with the dozens and dozens of other Irish whiskey makers, bottlers and distilleries of which quite a few, for whatever reason, fail to deliver genuine, honest, factual information about what they do and how they do it: I fear Waterford may well not be an isolated case. Of course quite a significant proportion of the intended customers of these distilleries / whisky makers may well be people just happy to find a good looking bottle containing something that caters to their needs  and obviously these customers won’t give a rats ass about things like transparency or sourcing. But when all the signs are there that it’s hard to target new customer bases as the ‘new generation’ is turning its back on whiskey and/or alcohol altogether and with a market that is all but saturated, those customers who genuinely are bothered and care about integrity and factual presentation might well prove to be a lifeline in times to come. So perhaps ‘they’ should start to pay attention and care about the stuff ‘we’ feel matters.