This was to be our 2nd Teeling Irish Whiskey tasting evening with James Kilgannon from Teeling, our first had been with the Brabazon 1, 2, and 3 bottlings.
The Whiskeys we were trying on this tasting were all new to us, needless to say we were both rather excited. During this tasting we’d be trying;
- Stiggins’ Fancy Pineapple Plantation Collaboration Cask – 49.2% ABV.
- Sommelier Selection Chateau Margaux Cask – 46% ABV.
- Reichstrat Von Buhl Pinor Noir Cask – 46% ABV.
- Renaissance 2 Australian Shiraz Cask – 46% ABV
Teeling Stiggins’ Fancy Plantation Collaboration Cask 49.2% ABV
Appearance – It’s light Gold in colour, it’s very viscous and has lovely slow thick legs.
The pineapple always seems to be more towards the skin and rind of the pineapple rather than the fruit#thewhiskeychaps
— James Kilgannon (@james_kilgannon) October 29, 2020
Nose – There’s banana, and pineapple, as expected I suppose, but it’s not sweet pineapple, perhaps heavily seared pineapple rings, and that rum note is lovely and strong. I’m definitely getting the heavier rum notes, haven’t tasted yet, but getting brown sugar, caramel, golden syrup, too
bananna’s is what i get as well. Along with lots of subtle sweetness reminiscent of candy #thewhiskeychaps
— James Kilgannon (@james_kilgannon) October 29, 2020
Palate – Much sweeter, sweet tropical fruits, pineapples and mango, fruit cocktail syrup, cream soda, white pepper, icing sugar, it’s really nice tbh. Yep vanilla, I’ll say white grapes too, very syrupy, I really like this, sweeter and lighter than the nose gave. It’s very oily for me too, especially on the lips, loverly stuff.
Small Batch provides for us a great base that we expand on. I like to think of it as a foundation of familiarty, almost a comfortable place. The maturation in unique casks like the fantastic plantation pineapple casks adds that signature Teeling Effect#thewhiskeychaps
— James Kilgannon (@james_kilgannon) October 29, 2020
Finish – Long side of medium for me, quite spicy, nice layer of oak now, getting spicier tbh, paprika? Nutmeg, coriander, a lovely finish, an all round super whiskey, especially if somebody likes a rum cask drop.
My thoughts – I absolutely love this bottling, its everything an ex rum cask whisk(e)y should be, it’s bursting with flavour.
Teeling Sommelier Selection Chateau Margaux Cask – 46% ABV.
Appearance – This is a mid Gold in colour, very viscous again on the glass with super thick slow legs.
if you look at Europe as a whole, there are an incredible amount of different varients of Wine casks, grape types, wood types, regions and styles that you can choose from.#thewhiskeychaps
— James Kilgannon (@james_kilgannon) October 29, 2020
Nose – There’s a slight savoury meats note to this, almost light smoke, light green fruits, green grapes, greengages, candied lemon slices, and quite sweet, perhaps royal icing. Yep and slowly red fruits and berries are coming through, definitely cranberries and red currants.
I get a lot of citrus tones on the nose with this whiskey, Oranges yes, but also an orchid fruit acidity to it.#thewhiskeychaps
— James Kilgannon (@james_kilgannon) October 29, 2020
Palate – The palate is quite light fruit wise, it’s quite elegant, has a very oily mouthfeel, a mix of icing sugar sweetness and some dark chocolate bitterness, candied lemon slices again, definitely a wine influence, and the spices are coming again, perhaps chilli, and Dijon mustard?
At the moment we have over 100 different varieties of casks in our warehouse along with multiple different styles of new makes.#thewhiskeychaps
— James Kilgannon (@james_kilgannon) October 29, 2020
Finish – It has a long finish, sweetness, spiciness and a little bitterness like the palate, there’s icing sugar that runs throughout, black cherries and the chilli and dark chocolate are there again, and it all slowly fades.
The dark chocolate is a big note for me, Followed by cherries and a refreshing citrus tone that you would typically expect from Bordeaux wines. This Small Batch blended whskey will be a series.#thewhiskeychaps
— James Kilgannon (@james_kilgannon) October 29, 2020
My thoughts – I’ve really enjoyed this bottling, it nicely balances sweetness, spiciness, and a little bitterness. I found it to be light green fruits initially, then slowly it becomes spicier, with a darker fruits feel, finished with high cocoa dark chocolate.
Teeling Reichstrat Von Buhl Pinot Noir cask 46% ABV.
This whiskey is a continuation of our Riesling collaboration with Reichsrat von Buhl.#thewhiskeychaps
— James Kilgannon (@james_kilgannon) October 29, 2020
Appearance – A quite light Gold in colour, beads up on the swirl line and has thick slow legs.
Nose – Yes there’s definitely mint here, it’s quite strong initially, it’s a very well married nose. Royal icing is in there, a slight mustiness, cranberries, red currants, Victoria sponge cake, yummy. I’m also getting a lovely sweetness coming through now, that’s delightful, it’s crept in slowly, nice surprise.
Palate – There’s lots of red fruits on the palate, strawberries, raspberries, a little cranberry dryness, red currants too, some lovely oak coming through, black pepper, even strong enough to be black peppercorns, and cardamom.
There is a slight christmas feel to this whiskey now that you mention it. Prehaps the stewed fruits and grape mustiness.#thewhiskeychaps
— James Kilgannon (@james_kilgannon) October 29, 2020
Finish – It’s quite long, black pepper, plenty of oak, quite a bit of char and red fruits, very nice again.
The red fruits for me start in the front of the pallete and slowly fade to the back letting a wamring black pepper spice finish. A very long finish on this. #thewhiskeychaps
— James Kilgannon (@james_kilgannon) October 29, 2020
My thoughts – I’ve really enjoyed this Bottling too, it has plenty going on, one to mull over or simply sip, either way a lovely whiskey.
Teeling Renaissance 2 Australian Shiraz cask 46% ABV.
Appearance – This whiskey is mid Gold in colour, it’s very viscous with slow thin legs.
This 18 year old single malt is a continuation of our previous 18 year old Single Malt madiera aged whiskey. #thewhiskeychaps
— James Kilgannon (@james_kilgannon) October 29, 2020
Nose – Initially when opened it was very sweet and syrupy, it’s been poured 30+ minutes now, and there’s still plenty of wine sweetness, with tropical and stoned fruits, the initial syrup has got sweeter too. I’m also getting a light nutty note, nectarines, and fruit cocktail syrup, it is delightful.
Palate – Well, that’s delightfully sweet and syrupy, it has a super oily mouthfeel, honey, vanilla, mead, sweet lemon, apricots, even Victoria plums, more to come yet. There’s a slight pepper note, it’s very light, there’s oak, also very light, it shows of the fruits and sweetness of the palate tbh. It’s slowly developing too, more fruits like new make, and it’s getting spicier too, I’m presuming that’s partly due to its age
Finish -Long Side of medium, white pepper, stoned fruit syrup and/or jam, apricots, nectarines, peaches, lovely and oily, and a sweetness that runs through it
Variety is definitely the spice of life….it also helps if you have hand selected rum casks.#thewhiskeychaps
— James Kilgannon (@james_kilgannon) October 29, 2020
My thoughts – This whiskey shows wonderful maturity and complexity, it’s so well married and rounded, and its apparent from the first time it’s nosed, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.
My overall thoughts from the evening – It’s been a privilege to have tasted these 4 whiskeys this evening, i have enjoyed them all, more quality from Teeling Irish Whiskey.
My favourites have been the Stiggins’ fancy pineapple plantation rum cask and Renaissance 2 Australian Shiraz cask. The Stiggins’ rum cask in my opinion is what an ex rum cask whiskey should be, it has so much flavour, and the Renaissance 2 shows great maturity, complexity and marriage with it’s flavours. The Sommelier selection Margaux wine cask and Reichstrat von buhl pinot noir cask are also very good whiskeys.
I’d like to thank Teeling Whiskey and James Kilgannon (Twitter) for the opportunity to do this tasting, its been another cracking evening.
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