Sourcing Pedro Ximénez casks used since 1918 at a bodega in Jerez, Teeling left this whiskey to finish for 3 years. A bouquet of sweet red apple, black grape, dried fruits, and blueberry, with sweet roasted cashews, dry spices, and a slight herbal edge. Blue fruits, plum, cinnamon, and bitter chocolate are harried ferociously by spicy peppercorn, leaving a finish of bruised orchard fruit. Add water and the fruit really shines. (10,000 bottles) €95

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2020)

Part of a series of innovative wine finishes marking the revival of distilling in Dublin. The fourth release spent a year finishing in sweet, aromatic Muscat casks, imparting the bouquet of a rose garden, with ripe peach, satsuma peel, peppercorn, and black cardamom. Syrupy sweet wine notes, canned peach slices, vanilla cream, ginger root, and pepper make this attractive and unique among Irish whiskeys. (12,500 bottles) €120

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2017)

The first conventional release from this fledgling company. Irish whiskey's equivalent to a seemingly frothy sweet pop song, which on closer inspection has barbed and cutting lyrics. It's a sweet Irish blend and seems like it. But it has a high malt content, is packed with flavor, and it easily justifies its price. It's creamy and rich with toffee notes, there's some tropical fruit and delicious rum-and-raisin milk chocolate. Not too cloying despite the sweetness, either.

Reviewed by: Dominic Roskrow (Summer 2013)

A new multi-vintage core expression of independent Irish single malt compiled from a vatting of whiskey finished variously in port, sherry, white burgundy, cabernet sauvignon, and Madeira. The nose suggests honey, baked lemons, ground almonds, desiccated coconut, white pepper, and soft toffee. A fabulously thick texture; thank goodness for their insistence on non-chill filtering. It’s fruity with twinkling spice, pepper, root ginger, and vanilla orbiting around a fudge-like core. The oak is present on the dry finish.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2015)

This promises to be a bumper year for older Irish whiskey. This example from Cooley distillery is a 1991 distillation matured in bourbon casks, then finished in a Sauternes cask.Temptations exude from the glass with apricot frangipane, whole almond, and cloved orange. After a vinous opening, it evolves through a complex palate of white chocolate, honey, cocktail grapefruit, and dried banana chips. Plum skin and cinnamon spice seem in conflict with the sweetness, and somewhat disturb the harmony. £130

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2014)

Cooley produced some great Irish single malt whiskeys and this is no slouch, either. It pulls off the trick of being both very Irish, with sweet, lush pear, fermenting apple, and yellow fruit notes; and of being distinctively a single malt, mainly because the barley is held in check by just enough influence of tannin and spice. It's a bit like a fruit cordial, and the oak doesn't overstay its welcome. A nice pepper flourish in the finish.

Reviewed by: Dominic Roskrow (Winter 2013)

The Teelings were responsible for giving us the quite wonderful Greenore, which moved up the gears until it hit stunning at 15 years old. This, I suspect, is back to the start and is a work in progress. But it has all the right parts even if it isn't firing quite yet. Its nose is industrial and a tad sappy, but the taste makes up for it: sweet, light, with smoky ashtrays and almond pulp.

Reviewed by: Dominic Roskrow (Winter 2013)

Proof there is life after Cooley. Jack Teeling and whiskey innovator Alex Chasko kept the independent flame alive by moving on. This whisky isn't a revolution: it's a mix of Irish (Cooley) and scotch (Bruichladdich). That's not a new idea, and it does what you might predict. It starts with a sweet, fruity Irishness, then earthier, spicier Scottish notes kick in. It works fine, but this is a placeholder whisky. Expect a lot more in the coming months.

Reviewed by: Dominic Roskrow (Spring 2013)

I'm really excited that new world whiskey makers and independents are challenging the way we think about whiskey. But there are concerns, too, such as flavored whiskeys, and white spirit sold as the finished article. Poitín is an Irish pauper's spirit made illegally, so legal definitions are patchy. It is normally made with potatoes. This is a mix of new make Irish single malt and new make Irish grain. It tastes like new make Irish whiskey. End of story.

Reviewed by: Dominic Roskrow (Spring 2013)