Teeling Single Malt Whiskey Review

I bought a 5 cl bottle of Teeling Single Malt Whiskey three years ago. After three long years I remembered this Irish whiskey sample in my cabinet and gave it a try. Usually Irish whiskies are traditional pot still whiskies or blends but 100% malt whiskey is not that common.

Although Bushmills distillery from Ireland makes them. Rumor has it that this single malt comes from Bushmills since Teeling distillery was opened in 2015. So they’ve had to source their whiskies from other distilleries before 2018, before they can officially call their own batches whiskey. I bought this sample in 2017 so it has to be sourced.

Teeling is located in Dublin and I’ve tried their sourced single grain whiskey – it was surprisingly good. That single grain whiskey had a wine cask finish. This single malt has been matured in a combination of five different casks: Sherry, Port, Madeira, White Burgundy and Cabernet Sauvignon. So Teeling surely likes to experiment with ex-wine casks.

I kinda liked this expression too, but more matured version would be more welcomed. You can read my thoughts below:

Matured in:

Combination of Ex-Sherry, Ex-Port and Ex-Wine casks.

ABV: 46%

Colour: Chardonnay

Non-chill filtered

Nose: Starts with fresh grapes, like sweet grape wine. Strong oak tannins. Freshly cut wood, like walking to a carpenter’s workroom. Soap and mildly spicy notes.

Taste: Oak and spices. Mellow toffee notes fade away fast, getting run over by nutmeg, sherry and wine notes. Turns quite bitter towards the end.

Finish: Oily oak starts the finish. Turns into a mix of spices and creamy butterscotch. Cheddar notes come late in the aftertaste.

Balance: Aromas are crispy fresh, palate feels mellow but in a sweet and bitter undertone.