Spirit Type: Single Malt Irish Whiskey

Country: Ireland

ABV: 49.5%

Bottle Size: 70cl

Description:

I had already discussed Teeling's regular expressions. They are now a brand I don't wish to watch closely because most of their releases still employ supplied stock. There is no guarantee that the whiskey they produced, aged, and distilled on their own would be as good as or equivalent to what they are currently selling. Despite these worries, Teeling has a strong reputation, which says to me that they are authorities in their field whether or not they employ supplied distillate, so I'm still intrigued in them.

Fortunately, their worldwide brand ambassador Robert Caldwell allowed me to join a virtual tasting he conducted.

This tasting was unique because each of these releases spent time in a different type of old wine cask. With the exception of the Brabazon series 3 wine casks, the varieties of wine casks utilized are new to me. Because it is a different brand from Teeling's, even though it is produced by the same company, I will only talk about the two Brabazon releases in this essay.

Given the sherry cask fever presently gripping the whisk(e)y scene, it's reasonable to assume that Malt readers won't need an introduction to Pedro Ximenez (PX) sherry, but (for those who aren't sure) it's a sweet sort of sherry.

Except for Moscatel sherry, the other sherries are all dry and made from the Palomino grape variety. The grapes used to make PX go by the name Pedro Ximenez. It is characterized as a dessert wine because of its high sweetness and syrupiness. Nowadays, it seems like almost every business sells at least one item that has aged in a former PX cask. Whiskey finishing in seasoned ex-PX casks has become so commonplace in modern times that it has been given the name "new paxarette."

The aroma is sharp and appealing. I pick up medium notes of plums, currants, raisins, and star fruits. It suddenly gets hotter, making it difficult for me to adequately detect the other scents. The heat abates for a moment. Moderately scented foods include dates, ripe apples, bananas, apple pie, cherry juice concentrate, and blood orange peel.

It has a tiny bit of sulfur in it to greet me in the mouth. But it keeps coming back and muddles the flavors I can taste. Figs, currants, raisins, cherries, blood oranges, plums, Sauternes, honeydew melon, and cinnamon are all present in very minor amounts. Imagine drinking a blended fruit salad that has been mildly seasoned with Sauternes while eating something scratchy like sandpaper. The abrasive texture of the sulfur is compared to sandpaper.