Teeling Irish Whiskey is launching three exclusive small batch whiskies in Australia including one recently named the world’s best single malt and one borne from a collaboration with South Australian winemakers Jim Barry Wines.
The three whiskies are Teeling 24 Year Old, Teeling 17 Year Old Jim Barry Shiraz Cask and Teeling Stout Cask Collaboration with Galway Bay Brewery. The 24 Year Old was named the World’s Best Single Malt at the 2019 World Whiskies Awards, and as Teeling’s Asia Pacific Commercial Manager, Martin Lynch told TheShout, that win saw demand for the whiskey sky rocket.
“There was huge demand after winning the award, it’s oversubscribed 10 fold. Within 24 hours of winning the award it was gone off the shelves in Australia,” Lynch said.
But there is good news for Australia’s whiskey fans, as Lynch has been able to secure 300 cases for this market.
“It’s great to be able to give Australia’s whiskey connoisseurs the opportunity to get their hands on this whiskey again. I know the guys who do my job in Europe were giving me grief that I managed to get an allocation of more of the whiskey down here to Australia.
“It’s completely gone from our distillery, we don’t have any more and there won’t be any more unfortunately, so it’s pretty special.”
So what makes it such a special whiskey? Lynch told TheShout that there’s a number of factors at play.
“This is definitely an end of the evening, sitting in a chair by the fire whiskey to enjoy. It’s got a really nice sweetness, it’s got a lovely influence from the Sauternes casks that we finished it in. So there’s some nice peach characters coming through and some toffee and caramel. Also, what’s quite unique and you don’t see it much in Irish whiskey, is there’s a little hint of smoke in the whiskey.
We’ve used a small bit of peated malt in the make-up of the whiskey and it just adds an extra layer of flavour in there.”
In addition to the 24 Year Old, Teeling is also releasing a 17 Year Old Single Malt which has been finished in Jim Barry Shiraz casks. The whiskey was aged for 16 years in ex-bourbon barrels before spending a year in the casks which were shipped to Ireland in-tact, the day after the wine was decanted.
This unique whiskey features concentrated dark fruit flavours of blackberry and cherry intermingled with liquorice and creamy oak, creating a Single Malt to be savoured.
“The Barry’s have been creating world-class wine from the Clare Valley region for 60 years and we saw many synergies between ourselves and brothers Sam and Tom Barry. With their connection to Ireland, to running a successful family business, to perfecting their craft through the generations. This fantastic collaboration between our families has resulted in a one of a kind expression with only 2,000 bottles available around the world”, said Founder Jack Teeling, Teeling Whiskey.
Also arriving early August is the Teeling Whiskey Imperial Stout Cask Finish – a small batch collaboration with the Galway Bay Brewery based on the west coast of Ireland. “Teeling Whiskey Company and Galway Bay Brewery, one of Ireland’s most celebrated craft breweries, have been collaborating for years, on what has now become the cult classic ‘200 Fathoms’ beer – a modern interpretation of an Imperial Stout. The new whiskey brings the collaboration full circle,” Teeling said.
The taste is sweet malt, roasted barley, sour fruits and black cherries, with a finish of Seville oranges, digestive biscuits, honeycomb and cream.
Lynch added: “We’ve experimented with different kinds of beer casks for the last couple of years and the partnership with Galway Bay Brewery got the biggest reaction and following. We take their Imperial Stout casks and we finish our whiskey in those.
“With our flagship whiskey, the Teeling Small Batch, that is finished in rum casks, but with this one instead of using rum, we’ve finished it in the Imperial Stout casks. So it’s similar in style to our flagship whiskey but with it being 46 per cent ABV and non-chill filtered there’s a bit more mouthfeel in the whiskey and a bit more spice and flavour.
“There’s some lovely coffee notes, a bit of liquorice and dark chocolate and this is a whiskey that lends itself to a boilermaker, but we have definitely been encouraging bartenders to play around with it.”