BENRIACH RELEASES BATCH 11 OF ITS SINGLE CASK BOTTLINGS
It comprises fourteen superb casks that were bottled in July and all are available as of today, ideal for leisurely summer tasting.
Ranging from 37 to 9 years old, the much-anticipated release demonstrates a hugely eclectic range of expressions for which Elgin’s award-winning BenRiach is renowned, with astonishing variety across the fourteen casks. These include whiskies in the traditional, classic Speyside style, peated expressions and wood finishes such as Dark Rum, Tawny Port, Madeira, Virgin Oak, Pedro Ximenez Sherry and a Marsala wood finish.
All fourteen casks have been hand-selected by BenRiach’s Managing Director and Master Distiller Billy Walker who described them as “absolutely special” and added:
“Wood Management is one of the most important factors in ensuring excellence of quality during maturation. The most important factor is to use top-quality casks – Bourbon barrels, Hogsheads and ex-Wine Seasoned casks – and there is a role in the maturation process for all of these casks. Getting the wood right can be expensive but it’s one of the things I’m most proud of since we took over BenRiach.”
And what an amazing range there is in Batch Eleven.
The oldest, 1976 #529, at 44.2% vol, is Sherry Cask Matured and finished in a Bourbon barrel. Fresh crisp oak and cereal combine with sweet plum syrup, developing to an elegant, soft tropical fruit and toasted coconut finish.
Meanwhile the youngest, 2005 # 3781, at 58.7% vol, a Virgin American Oak Hogshead, offers floods of sweet peat reek in rich caramelised apple and pear, softening gently to dried apricot and desiccated coconut.
And a third which suggests it will be much sought-after is the 1998 cask # 5171, at 57.9% vol, a triple-distilled Pedro Ximenez Sherry Finish in which vibrant oak spice, orange bitters and dark chocolate give exceptional depth, with stewed barley and orchard fruits softly rolling though the long, ever-changing palate.
Other expressions in the range boast the taste of “Demerara and boiled sweets”, “luxurious chocolate and roasted coffee beans”, “rich Tarte Tatin” and even “fairground candy apple”.
The cask details are as follows:
1976 cask # 529 / 37 years old / Bourbon Barrel / Sherry Cask Matured, Bourbon Finish / 44.2% vol.
1976 cask # 5463 / 37 years old / Bourbon Barrel / Peated, Sherry Cask Matured, Bourbon Finish / 51.9% vol.
1977 cask # 7114 / 37 years old / Hogshead / 48.3%vol.
1977 cask # 1891 / 37 years old / Dark Rum Barrel / Dark Rum Finish / 43.2% vol.
1978 cask # 5469 / 36 years old / Bourbon Barrel / Sherry Cask Matured, Bourbon Finish / 41.7% vol.
1984 cask # 488 / 29 years old / Hogshead / Peated / 51.1% vol.
1984 cask # 4051 / 29 years old / Tawny Port Hogshead / Peated, Tawny Port Finish / 50.3% vol.
1994 cask # 1703 / 20 years old / Tawny Port Hogshead / Tawny Port Finish / 55.6% vol.
1994 cask # 5626 / 20 years old / Madeira Hogshead / Peated, Madeira Finish / 53.2% vol.
1996 cask # 7176 / 18 years old / Pedro Ximenez Sherry Puncheon / Pedro Ximenez Sherry Finish / 52.4% vol.
1997 cask # 4435 / 16 years old / Marsala Hogshead / Marsala finish / 56.1% vol.
1998 cask # 5171 / 16 years old / Pedro Ximenez Sherry Puncheon / Triple Distilled, Pedro Ximenez Sherry finish / 57.9% vol.
2000 cask # 38131 / 14 years old / Bourbon Barrel / 59.3% vol.
2005 cask # 3781 / 9 years old / Virgin American Oak Hogshead / Peated, Virgin American Oak finish / 58.7% vol.
Teeling Whiskey Starts Work on First New Dublin Distillery in over 125 Years
The Teeling Whiskey Company (TWC) has announced that work has commenced on their new whiskey distillery located in Dublin’s Newmarket in The Liberties, Dublin 8. Bringing the Teelings home to their ancestral roots, this is the first new distillery in Dublin in over 125 years and will be a modern revival of the family distillery that thrived in the area in the 18th century.
The Teeling Whiskey distilling equipment is scheduled to arrive in October and commissioning of the distillery will commence before the end of this year. There will be more than 100 people employed during the construction of the distillery with 30 permanent jobs created following its completion.
Jack Teeling, Founder and Managing Director of the Teeling Whiskey Company commented “We are proud to be returning to our ancestral distilling roots which trace back to 1782 in The Liberties. This project brings distilling back to an area of Dublin long associated with world class whiskey which, at one stage, had 37 different operational distilleries and was known as the ‘Golden Triangle’ due to the cluster of Irish whiskey manufacturers in one small area. Dublin whiskey was at the forefront of the last golden age of Irish whiskey. We aim to revive the Spirit of Dublin by putting Dublin and Teeling Whiskey firmly back on the map again.”
The Teeling Whiskey brand is already on sale in Ireland and is now in over 25 export markets. The construction of the new distillery will guarantee future supply for the Teeling Whiskey brands and allow the creation of a range of innovative and authentic Irish whiskeys based on the traditional and unique Dublin style of distillation.
The new pot still distillery will have the capacity to produce 500,000 litres of whiskey on an annual basis and will consist of three traditional copper pot stills reviving the traditional style of the old Dublin distilleries. In addition, the visitor centre will become a true Dublin destination; providing an experiential journey into the history of Teeling Whiskey, the whiskey heritage of the Liberties, the unique Dublin whiskey distilling process and whiskey tasting.