Spirit Type: Blended Whiskey

Country: Ireland

ABV: 46%

Bottle size: 70cl

Description:

The synergy that occasionally develops between the realities of the same production region, whether local or national, is one of the most fascinating features of handcrafted goods connected to the land.

This is true of this bottling, which was created in association with the Galway Bay Brewery, a craft brewery established in Galway in 2009, and is the outcome of a two-way conversation:

Before returning to the distillery to refine this whiskey, Teeling first lends its ex-Rum casks used for Small Batch to Galway Bay to mature it's stout (200 Fathoms Imperial Stout, 9.3%ABV).

The spirit is a combination of 25% malt and 75% maize, aged for at least six years in ex-Bourbon barrels before spending at least a year in these "returned" ex-Beer barrels, from which the distillery's only cask strength editions have also been produced.

The aroma is vibrant and pungent, with notes of pineapple, brown sugar, chocolate, and what smells like damp undergrowth joining a strong green apple and pears component and a thin layer of acetone. The saltiness in a splash. Rum has a stronger effect on you than stout.

It has a wonderful weight in the mouth and becomes rounder while losing some of its sharpness. Darker flavors of roasted malt, coffee, and fondant that are infused with fruit (baked apples, pears, and sour cherries) and laced with bitter flavors of liquorice root, almond, and gingerbread that become stronger and longer as they linger in the mouth and tempt you to take another sip.

With a bitter streak of almonds, coffee, chocolate, baked apple, and orange, the aftertaste is extremely lengthy.

A really unusual union where the many elements collide and chase each other results in a genuinely special and unique blend that dangerously tempts you to keep drinking in order to fully appreciate its subtleties.