Time for some #whiskey: with a 1991 Teeling: The Teeling family have some of the best old casks of Irish whiskey in their warehouses, and occasionally they let TWE choose something special to bottle as an exclusive. This 29-year-old single malt has spent its life in a rum cask.
Teeling 1991 Rum cask #10568 , 52.4%, £595
Nose: Light and grassy, and quite green on the first whiff, then we arrive at the tropical fruit heaven we’ve grown accustomed to in those 1990’s Irish whiskies, right? Lighter fresh notes of Kiwi and passionfruit complimented by semi-ripe orange watermelon and maybe a hint of mango as well.. Really fruity and gentle, and not at all feeling over 52% when sniffing this. I am also picking up some lemongrass notes as this spends time in the glass, also ripe blood oranges and maybe a hint of tangerine.
Palate: The palate certainly feels more powerful, with yet again an avalanche of fruit and some wood: grapefruit pith, kiwi, and some pink guavas, there’s some wood in there, lovely old polished oak, but not a massive amount, and certainly not too much considering this is a 29-year-old whisky… Not a lot of rum influence, I must say, but maybe that’s for the best, letting the Irish distillate shine. When the fruit influence softens, one can detect some wood spices, and maybe a touch of pepper, wood, and vanilla cream.
Finish: more fruit, pepper, and spiced wood, a wee hint of rum maybe (or am I imagining things? the power of suggestion is quite strong.)
Conclusion: Excellent like I was hoping it would be, with the trademark tropical fruit we like so much in those 1990’s Irish, The rum did a lovely job without overpowering the spirit, and that’s a good thing, although I have to say I am not quite sure I’d recognize the ‘Rum’ Effect here. Not cheap as those Irish are in recent years, but you’re getting top-notch stuff here.
Score : 90/100
available exclusively on the TWE website