Give this an hour to unfurl; the nose reveals aged oak, pot still spice, and engine-oiled machine parts, then milk chocolate, sesame seeds, vintage maps, and calfskin vellum, before chocolate orange and lighter, more pliable wood notes, and eventually shortbread and buttercream. The flavors are so vibrant: a brilliant chocolate-orange creaminess, penetrating pot still spice, gingersnap, barley sugar, and a treacle-like spicy finish that lasts an eternity. (70 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2021)

This is mastery of American oak! Polished wood, cinnamon cereals, dry spices of pepper, allspice, and paprika, and a riot of mostly overripe fruit: custard apple, mango, brown banana, baked apricot dessert, and fresh fig. Caramel, date slices, treacle, and cracker bread flavors are bathed in feisty pot still spices and fleeting green apple, before a lush, rich sweetness of banoffee pie, vanilla, and cinnamon descends. The finish is seemingly eternal.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2018)

The nose is beautifully honeyed, with crisp spices, cinnamon, nutmeg, and coriander seed, supplanted by grated chocolate, seasoned oak, and peppercorn. Thick and unctuous, with honey, citrus, and clove-led spices, the velvety palate glides toward flavors of fruity dark chocolate. Spices are a constant throughout, the final flavors darting between black currant, oak, ginger loaf, and milk chocolate. This proves to be much more than just history in a bottle.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2022)

Season 2 of Dair Ghaelach sees the action switch to six Irish oaks felled in a County Kilkenny bluebell forest. The balance of spice, toasted oak, and sweetness on the nose from tree one is singularly good, though clementine and grapefruit peel also clamor for attention. The acidity of the citrus collides with crunchy pot still spices, and grapefruit evolves into the most delicious ripe mango flavor. Simply heavenly.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2018)

A marriage of a single cask of grain from 1981 with a cask of pot still from 1984 to celebrate 30 years of Midleton Very Rare, the job undertaken masterfully by Barry Crockett and Brian Nation. The expressive nose is redolent of polished antique violin, warm gingerbread, the herbal tinges pricked by spices. Delicate honey, rich vanilla, toasty oak, and tendrils of cinnamon segue into a dry, spicy conclusion. La Peregrina of Irish whiskey. Ain’t she a beauty? (117 bottles) €6,000

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2015)

A superbly balanced whiskey with huge spices meeting vanilla head on: a perfect complement between the American and Irish oak contributions. It has a softer body, with lemon, vanilla, and meringue in creamy custard sauce, but then the spices go off like a rocket, and as they glitter across the palate, there are glimpses of chocolate, coffee, and singed oak.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2020)

Each MVR vintage has its own character, and the latest version has a sweet motif coddled in a soft, fruity bounty. Orange tartlets, white pepper, cantaloupe, nectarine, pear, malt, and rounded oak greet the nose. Honey and caramel with citrus, pulped fruit, and spice, before a sweeter phase of tablet, toffee, and vanilla flavors on the palate. Spices only nibble at the sweet and comforting finish. Collectible

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2019)

Powerfully smoky for 45 years old, with charcoal, burnt turf, smoked venison, dark chocolate, Brazil-nut dark toffee, roasted chestnut, and a hint of smoked haddock. Thick golden syrup, peppery spice, and vanilla caramel; the peat smoke is heavier initially, then fades and darts between other flavors. Toasted oak, dark sugars, cocoa, and smoke finish an incredible sip of Irish whiskey liquid history. (48 bottles) Collectible

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2020)

Midleton master distiller Kevin O’Gorman’s debut vintage accentuates the elegant nature of Very Rare, and evokes an indulgent nose of rich caramel, dry spices, apple strudel, vanilla fudge, seasoned oak, banana, and toasted coconut. The palate revels in soft orchard fruits with a gentle undertow of spice, bananas in custard, and caramelized sugar. Including single pot still whiskey from 1984, this is fruit-led and so sippable. (Collectible)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2021)

Deep amber color with shade of ruby. Sweet aromas of ripe fruit, oak, caramelized sugar, rum, and creamy vanilla. Full in body for an Irish whiskey, with a silky, creamy texture. Voluptuous flavors of burnt sugar, rum, honeyed fruit, creamy vanilla, and spice cake.Here's a whiskey the blends the old with the new. The whiskey was distilled at the old Midleton distillery, which has been dismantled. After spending most of its life in sherry and bourbon casks, it was then finished off in port pipes. It maintains its Irish-ness, its pot still character is both satisfying and reassuring, and the port pipe aging introduces flavors that make the whiskey very intriguing. An outstanding product! Around 400 bottles for the United States.

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Winter 2001)

A classic with its nose of toffee, vanilla, treacle tarts, and fragrant pot still spices. Initially, flavors of green apple, red fruits, toffee, nimble spices, caramel, and vanilla before a minty master class: rubbed mint leaves become peppermint, developing into After Eight mints, then cool mints. Taste for a minute or more for the full experience. The smooth finish has clove, pepper, and bitter dark chocolate. Collectibles

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2020)

Make way. The nose is dense, oily, and mesmeric. There’s vanilla, sure, but it’s the intense aroma of vanilla pods split and scraped at knifepoint. Woven around it, there’s crème caramel and heavier cinnamon flaring at the margins, softening with dilution, but remaining sweet. The first Midleton to carry master distiller Brian Nation’s name is purposeful and assured, lacking some of the sappiness of the 2013 release. This is less about succession, more an emphatic statement of intent.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2014)

Vanilla, white pear, meringue, caramel, and lots more toasted oak flavors with nutmeg, clove, and pepper. This is fruity and sweet with orange, pomegranate, and caramel, then a wild, crazy rush of spices. It has a bold and generous nature, moving from lime zest to grapefruit, with dry oak to finish.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2020)

This year’s edition contains some of the oldest whiskey they’ve ever put into Very Rare. A pronounced spicy nose, with sweet barley, dried apple, crisp grains, sweet baklava, and squishy cubes of rose-scented Turkish delight. In the mouth, it’s incredibly smooth and glossy; quite honeyed, subtle soft fruits, raspberry, apple, mixed peel, butterscotch, baked orange, and a hearty spice core. A creamy finish, where the spices outlast the fruit.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2018)

Former master distiller Brian Nation’s final release has all the classic Midleton hallmarks, but this is on the spicier side, hinting at a greater pot still influence. Fresh and fragrant on the nose with green apple, glazed fudge doughnuts, vanilla, peppercorn, cinnamon, and nutmeg. American oak plays its part with toffee and vanilla flavors, while little explosions of pot still spices burst among fruity red apple and orange peel notes.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2021)

A delicious nose of heather honey, baked peach, dried apricot, fresh oak, and clotted cream on warm scones, with a twist of black pepper and ground ginger. The way the fruitiness breaks through the wall of ginger and pepper, enabling the baked peach, apple, sweet honey, and toffee to assert themselves is rather wonderful. Waves of sweetness and vanilla break over stone fruit, leaving a roasted coffee finish.  

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2022)

This one is all about the wood spices and oak up front, backed by runny caramel, banana split, lime zest, and cooking apple spices. The Irish oak spices run riotously, with flavors of vanilla, toffee, baked apple, and nougat settling down reluctantly once cosseted by the indulgent taste of banoffee pie and milk chocolate. More a lovable rogue than an outright troublemaker.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2022)

Baked pastries drizzled with honey, vanilla fudge, fresh florals, gentle wood spices, ripe peach, white pepper, and well-rounded toasted oak aromas. The sweet grain elements are particularly delightful on this year’s release, the 39th in the series. The palate is front-loaded with spicy fruits, the pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg wrapped around flavors of mandarin, banana, red apple, and melon. Disentangled, a creamy vanilla richness remains, bolstered by oak and wood spices. Collectible

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2022)