The Riches Of Midleton - Barry Crockett - Irish Whiskey's Superstar

As anyone who has visited a distillery before will tell you whisk(e)y making, wherever it is produced, is not just about the liquid, the processes and the location but also the people behind it.  

Visit any of the picture postcard distilleries on Islay in Scotland and the above is very much on show:  from Iain McArthur at Lagavulin, the cheeky warehouseman, whose guiding influence on the selection of the whisky has been instrumental in making Lagavulin one of the best loved distilleries in Scotland.  Iain recently celebrated his 40th year working in whisky, many of them spent at Lagavulin, every year honing his knowledge and his ability to pick a winning cask.  The same story applies to the Bowmore distillery. Manager Eddie MacAffer began his tenure at the distillery back in July 1966 and is without doubt, the most learned person on the planet when it comes to the whisky produced by this hugely popular distillery.  

In Ireland the story remains the same and last week, we were lucky enough to be part of a very special double celebration at the Midleton distillery in Cork.  For those unfamiliar with the Midleton name, the distillery, which was re-developed on the old Midleton site back in 1975 produces, Jameson Irish whiskey- available in almost every bar in every town in every country around the globe.  Such is the popularity of the brand, alongside the recently revived excellence of Green Spot and Redbreast (the 12 year old sells around 30,000 cases a year), that Irish Distillers who own the vast complex of still rooms and warehouses (to give you some idea of the scale of the brand, we counted nearly 50 aircraft hanger sized facilities, full of maturing casks) have just completed an ambitious expansion plan, taking the capacity of the distillery to somewhere in the region of 60 million litres of whiskey a year.  

Yes, they're really this big...

The Midleton 'Housewarming' was a celebration of just why Irish whiskey is currently the fastest growing dark spirit category in the world and for two days, nearly 1000 writers, journalists, bartenders and whiskey enthusiasts desended on the small town, where the distillery had transformed itself into effectively an Irish whiskey theme park - not only to celebrate the huge expansion, but also to give a fond farewell to Barry Crockett, master distiller for Irish Distillers, who retired at the event, handing the reins over to Brian Nation. 

The Midleton distillery has received a substantial facelift and in addition to the impressive construction  of the Garden Still House (with quite easily the biggest pot stills we have ever seen, with an overall capacity of 80,000 litres, typically running at up to 40k)the distillery is now catering more for consumers, with the addition of a whiskey academy, complete with old school chairs and desks, blackboards and some seriously impressive working glass stills at the back of the room, that brilliantly highlight the potstill distillation process.  The academy is intended to be as detailed or as light on knowledge as needed, for instance catering for groups of bartenders, keen to know more about Irish whiskey and its DNA compared to other whiskies, or simply for visitors to the Midleton site to get a feel for what is to come when they visit the full sized stills on their tour. We like... A lot. 

Barry & his newly named Stillhouse

And as to the whiskeys themselves.  Well, here at Caskstrength we'd heard quite few rumours concerning a brace of new Redbreast releases (steady on, not those sort of rumours) so were keen to see if there was any new liquid on offer during our trip. Alas not, but we hear there is to be some substance to the rumours shortly -  watch this space. What we did get to try again was the range of single potstill whiskeys, which Midleton have been steadily building into a strong category of its own (see our previous feature here for more information) 

Seeing as it was Barry Crockett's final day at the site, a healthy dram of his legacy whiskey seemed the most fitting send off -  and without a doubt, the Crockett, totally rocked it... 

Barry Crocket Legacy -  46% - 70cl

Nose: A sensational balancing act of fresh orchard fruit, vanilla, some tropical notes (mango and passion fruit) whipped cream with a drizzle of honey and del seasoned, spicy oak.  As Irish whiskeys go, this has everything -  depth of character, a spicy backbone, delicate notes and a very fruity personality -  much like the real life Barry Crockett.  Triumphant just about sums this up.

Palate: The tropical fruits of the nose develop further on the palate, with the seasoned oak starting to develop a presence. The taste is full on and zesty initially, but with a little water the calmer vanillas develop alongside soft ripe plums, some peppery notes and a creamy oakiness.  

Finish: Lingering notes of the soft fruit, with a little touch of spicier, dried fruits and a delicious creaminess which fades with time. 

Overall: Whilst it's sad to see Barry Crockett retire, he has passed the tasting glass on to a more than capable distiller in the shape of Brian Nation.  Not only that, but he has left a truly great legacy behind in this wonderful whiskey.  Alongside Redbreast 15 year old, this is easily our favourite Irish whiskey and that is saying something.  Enjoy your spare time, Barry -  and make sure you leave with a few cases of this in your car...

You can learn more about the Midleton distillery by visiting: www.singlepotstill.com

Behind The Green Door

What a week... Only a few days ago, we released our second whisky and we're pleased to say that it is selling like the proverbial hot cakes... Only a few are available now, so if you fancy one, get skippin' along to Master Of Malt and grab one whilst they're still warm!

Also, I decided that Caskstrength Towers needed a bit of a facelift, given that several of the neighbouring residences all had their fastidious owners out painting, re-landscaping and making their home-from-homes more attractive.

Where to start?  Well, one of the windows at the back looked a bit jaded, so I stripped it all back and began to repaint it in a rather lovely green smoke shade. Then I noticed the front windowsills looked a little tired, so I bought new masonry paint ('sandstone'), which adheres to the regulations governing the house (CS Towers is actually a listed building!!)

Then I realised it looked ridiculous.  The shade of sandstone made by Farrow & Ball is clearly different to the one the place is already painted in.


So, with a grimace,  I began to paint the WHOLE DAMN HOUSE.

Housework on this scale is a little like becoming obsessed with high-end HiFi.  Once you start meddling, you start to change everything. Then once you've changed everything, you start all over again with the thing you first changed. Why did I have to start meddling...

So after two days, the facade of the house, the windows, the front garden and even the original victorian boot scraper have been tarted up.  Everything -  except the front door.

The existing door (in 'winter emerald green'- although it looks black in the picture above) looks nice enough -  but now it doesn't match the cocking windows.   Now i'm not sure if any of you have successfully painted a front door, but it seems bloody hard. Last time I did this, the pristine smooth finish bubbled and looked like the surface of the moon.  Epic fail.  So tomorrow, I will set out again to get it right, using overpriced Farrow & Ball oil paint, that will no doubt get everywhere, except smoothly across the panels on the door.

But beforehand, rather than thinking nightmarish thoughts about emerald paint, i'm going to enjoy some drams from the emerald isle... (see what I've done there...)

Recently, Joel and I were asked to chair the panel for the Irish Whiskey Masters, an industry awards run by Spirits Business magazine, which once again highlighted what we're all thinking: that Irish whiskey has never had it so good.

Sales across the board are hitting exceptional heights and with the news that both William Grant and Pernod Ricard are investing heavily in the category, the future looks glowing for the Emerald Isle.

So what of the current lot?  Well, you can take a look at the full list of award winners here in the Spirits Business.  In addition to these, last week we were sent a bevy of bottlings from a more obscure Irish whiskey brand.

The Wild Geese is not a name we're used to seeing in the pantheon of great Irish whiskeys.  In fact, taking away the historical puff that fills their website, there is very little to suggest who is actually behind the brand, where it is made and what the strategy is with the brand - (we've since discovered that it is produced by Cooley)  But the recent string of awards they've received gives a clear indication of what to expect.  The collection encompasses a standard blend, a single malt, a limited edition (which I think is a blend but the information available is unclear) and 'rare' (whatever that means)...and pretty decent they are too...

The Wild Geese -  'Untamed' - Classic Blend - Irish Whiskey - 40% 

Nose: Classic Irish whiskey fresh fruit and vanilla immediately burst through, alongside a little spiritiness, some pencil shavings and a light acacia honey.  Very delicate and top heavy. 

Palate: Very sweet and spirity with pear drops, sugar syrup, a little liquorice and a touch of citrus and green tea, sweetened with honey.  

Finish: Short, with a touch of green apple and a subtle maltiness as the palate dries.

Overall:  Lightweight and without a huge amount of character, this blend is inoffensive and certainly will appeal to those drinkers who have yet to really explore the Irish whiskey category. However for those who are already tuned in to the spirit, this blend (as pleasant as it is) is probably a little too light weight in the complexity dept to get your palate dancing a jig. 

Next up Wild Geese single malt:

The Wild Geese - Single Malt - NAS - 43%

Nose: Oily and rich, with liquorice, a touch of clove, unripe banana, fizzy lemon sherbet sweets and fresh nectarine notes.   

Palate: Not what I expected at all.  Slightly biscuity, with a touch of turned earth, a little leatheriness, icing sugar and a touch of medicinal lozenges. 

Finish: Some of the fruity notes (banana and nectarine) begin to make a return to the palate as it dries, with a lingering note of something fresh and green - unripe green apple. 

Overall:  With a nice oily backdrop in the fragrance dept, this will surprise with its more buttery, malty palate.  A very solid Irish single malt -  perhaps lacking the outer edges to make it a real stand out but decent nonetheless. 

The Wild Geese - Limited Edition Forth Centennial - 43% 

Nose: Immediate notes of tropical fruit, golden syrup, vanilla, demerera sugar and fresh cream. very nice indeed. Dig deeper and meringue notes begin to develop, drizzled in fresh raspberries and marzipan.  

Palate: The marzipan continues onto the palate, with a touch of lemon zest, a little nuttiness, some milk chocolate and more red berry fruit.   Given a dash of water, some warming spice (liquorice and clove) develop, alongside a creaminess.  

Finish: All too fleeting unfortunately, with remnants of the cream and fruit dashing from the palate swiftly, leaving a lingering note of vanilla.

Overall:  A very approachable whiskey, with a fine balance of fruitiness and sweetness. 

Finally -  Wild Geese Rare.  As we've mentioned on here before, a bugbear of ours is when companies use unquantifiable terms like 'small batch' and 'rare'.  If this is rare -  tell us why it's rare!! grrr. 

The Wild Geese - Rare - 43%

Nose: Stewed apple, some cinnamon spice, candle wax, a little fresh gooseberry and a more floral note than the others - powder puffs and lavender draw liners perhaps? Quite why I know such aromas is another matter, not for discussion on here... ;-) 

Palate: Creamy, with a toffee note, followed up by vanilla notes, some light citrus zest (lemons) and a little crumbled digestive biscuit.  A dash of water reveals a more spicy side with some liquorice notes developing nicely. 

Finish:  A little thin, but with lingering notes of chocolate malt, lemon zest and green apple.

Overall: Well, I'm still not sure quite why this is deemed to be 'rare' but it is certainly an enjoyable and easy drinking Irish whiskey.  It probably hasn't got the dancing legs of the Forth Centennial release, but is well worth seeking out in its own right. 

Hot Pot

The whisk(e)y business is constantly evolving. New bottle shapes seem to be popping up everywhere, new finishing and maturation techniques are being employed and every so often there are even brand new distilleries announced, pumping out spirit with gusto, from tens of millions of litres, to those filling single digit numbers of casks a day.

But it isn't every day that a whole new category is launched.

As we know, the growth of Single Malt Scotch Whisky is not to be ignored, even if the market is still underpinned by huge sales of Blended Whisky, both at home and abroad. In Scotland, the distinction between Single Malts and Blends is guarded in legislation written and passed by the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) and published in their latest 2009 regulations.

As you can see from the diagram above, taken from the 2009 regulations document, it is all fairly straightforward with Scotch. If the word “malt” or "grain" appears on a bottle of Scotch, it refers to the fact that no less than 100% of the ingredients is either Malted Barley or Grain; hence the terms Single Malt or Single Grain whisky.

A short hop over the sea to Ireland and things become very different. In 1682, Ireland was ruled by a British Government who, in trying to keep its grip on the unruly country, introduced a Malt Tax. As a result, many Irish distillers of the day hit back by making their whiskey with a mixture of malted and (non-taxable) un-malted barley, giving whiskey produced in Ireland its own unique flavour profile.

This means that in Ireland there are four different styles of whiskey made; Single Malt (example, Bushmills 10yo), Single Grain (example, Greenore 8yo), Blended (example, Jameson) and Pure Pot Still (example, Red Breast). The expression least familiar to Scotch drinkers would be "Pure Pot Still", a term used to refer to Irish Whiskeys triple distilled only in copper pot stills, from a mash made using mixture of malted and un-malted barley.

Why shouldn't the Irish have a definitive category which draws a real distinction between Blended, Single Malt or Single Grain whisky and that produced only in a Copper Pot Still using both malted and un-malted barley? The middle of the Venn diagram between Single Malt / Single Grain and Blended, if you like. A category that can do for this style of Irish whiskey, what Single Malt has done for Scotch. And so, in April 2011 the term "Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey" was introduced, creating a more definitive, new category of Irish Whiskey and replacing the little used term "Pure Pot Still".

Still with us? If not, click here.

("every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain")

One does wonder, with the introduction of the "single" moniker by the chaps down at Midleton, if we'll see any of the blends, all made on the one site, labelled "Single Blended Whiskey"...??

As a result of the new term Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey, Irish Distillers, owners of the Midleton Distillery in Cork have decided to expand two new whiskeys into this range and rejuvenate three others which were already in the now renamed Pure Pot Still category.

Getting a make over are the excellent Red Breast 12yo & 15yo as well as Green Spot, a whisky which has been produced exclusively for the Mitchell Family, wine brokers from Dublin, since the 1800's. All three of these whiskeys are at the very top of our list of favoured Irish drams, so it is fantastic to see a greater emphasis put on these releases. It has also been announced by Alex Ricard, CEO of Irish Distillers, that there will be additions to the range within the year-possibly older versions of Red Breast (?) and other extensions to the 'Spot' range. Although yet to be confirmed, the prospect has got us very excited at Caskstrength HQ.

Let's take a look at the Red Breast 12yo and the Green Spot whiskeys:

Red Breast - 12 Years Old - Single Pot Still - 40% ABV

Apparently 27% of the whiskey in this offering is matured in first fill sherry barrels

Nose: Honey, dry wood and oak, sherry tones. Still a little green on the nose, but that is probably because we're so used to the more mature 15 Year Old. The aroma dies down with dark chocolate liquours and a wiff of red flowers in bloom.

Palate: Light spices, some cherry notes, toasted pine nuts, hazelnuts all underpinned by some very light but juicy tropical fruit juices.

Finish: Those light wood spices again, some copper tones, ginger and digestive biscuits.

Overall: An excellent offering from the folk at Midleton. This has always jostled for position with Green Spot for our number two Pot Still Whiskey behind Red Breast 15yo.

Green Spot - NAS - Single Pot Still - 40% abv

traditionally released in very small batches and hard to find, Green Spot has been given a new lease of life with a new bottle and, for the first time, a box as well.

Nose: Freshly cut pine, strong vanilla tones which support orchard fruits.

Palate: Very grainy initially, with licorice chews, stewed soft fruits, a big hit of light curry spices ending with cardamon and fennel.

Finish: Dry oakiness with increased licorice, the same spices as the palate yet also with crushed almonds and hazelnuts.

Overall: A fantastic whiskey, which we wish was more widely available and at a cheaper price - we just bought a bottle for nearly £40. A lot of money for a No Age Statement whiskey.

Onto a brace of brand new releases from the Midleton distillery. Powers is a hugely popular whiskey in Ireland and this release commemorates the original 'spiritual home' of the Powers distillery on John's Lane in Dublin. The whiskey has a high proportion of first fill bourbon cask influence, as well as a a smattering of Oloroso sherry casks thrown in for good measure.

Powers - John's Lane Release - 12yo - 46% abv - NCF

Nose: Very heavy on the nose initially, with all-spice, dark honey, dried apricots and damsons.

Palate: Sweet cereal notes hit the palate first, followed by a very juicy fresh fruit salad (apples, bananas and a hint of tropical fruit, similar to an aged grain whiskey)

Finish: Creamy swathes, which linger on the palate and a return of some of the fruity notes.

Overall: A welcome edition to the Powers range, highlighting the differences in the spirit. This is a very different beast to that of the Red Breast and the Green Spot.

The final whiskey pays homage to an Irish whiskey legend, Barry Crockett, Midleton's Master Distiller responsible for developing the character of Midleton and helping bring it to a wider audience. This bottling includes a selection of first fill bourbon casks hand picked by Mr Crockett and also the inclusion of whiskey matured in unseasoned American oak.

Midleton - Barry Crockett Legacy - First Batch - 46% - limited to around 2500 bottles

Nose: Peppery, with pronounced citrus notes (grapefruit), gooseberries, passion fruit and a hint of wet cardboard.

Palate: More of the passion fruit, with a crisp zesty top note, some sweet cereal notes and a light creaminess. Exceedingly well balanced.

Finish: The sweet fruits linger, with hints of fizzy cherry drops and more of the creamy cereal.

Overall: Brilliantly put together, this whiskey in particular demonstrates how the category of single pot still Irish whiskey can develop into something with a distinct voice of its own.

The Single Pot Still category is set to grow over in the immediate future and, according to Alex Ricard, over the next 22 Years. Big plans indeed. As always with whiskey, consistency will be the key and if the SPS category can feature a range of price and availability, it could well become established as a new dawn in Irish Whiskey.