W.D. O’Connell Whisky Merchants is one such bottler and we're getting to try 2 of their releases.
The Irish whiskey market has seen something of a renaissance over the last few years, lots has been written about it so I'll just summarize here!
The decline of Irish whiskey distilling from the heyday of the late 18th Century, when there were nearly 90 distilleries in Ireland, to the end of the 1980's, when there were just 2, was caused by a number of factors including the failure to embrace the new technology of Coffey Still distillation, the Anglo-Irish Trade War following the Irish War of Independence, Prohibition in the United States and two World Wars
Irish Distillers was formed in 1966 merging together John Power & Son, John Jameson & Son and Cork Distilleries Company - one huge distillery in Midleton producing all their whisky from 1975. The only other distillery in Ireland was Bushmills and in 1972 they joined the group so that there was 1 company and 2 distilleries making all Irish whiskey.
Following a series of mergers, acquisitions and sales the two are now owned by separate companies. They were joined in 1987 by Cooley and in 2007 by Kilbeggan distilleries. More came on stream in the last 10 years and there are now over 30 operating distilleries in Ireland.
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| Picture: https://www.drinksireland.ie/ |
All of these new distilleries had to make their money as they waited for their own spirit to mature, some lead with vodka, gin or putin whilst some bought existing aged stock from the four existing distilleries. A number of independent bonders, blenders and bottlers sprung up at the same time and released whiskey to the world.
There wasn't a lot of openness or transparency in these bottlings and even some lies as to where the whiskey was sourced from. Some companies suggesting they had a master distiller when they didn't even have a distillery.....
One of the new bottlers is very transparent about where their whiskey comes from - W.D. O'Connell was formed in 2019, they source whiskey from other Irish Distilleries to bottle themselves but are happy to tell us all about it!
The 2 dram's we received were:
PX 17yo : A 17 year old Single Malt distilled in Cooley matured in 1st fill bourbon for 17 years, then in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks, Bottled at 46% , non chill filtered and limited to 370 bottles
Aroma: Ripe red berries, candied tangerine skin, malted barley & vanilla dusted sultanas.
Palate: Vibrant red berry coulis – red wine tannins meet fresh citrus, juicy redcurrants & tangy raspberry. Orchards fruits, light spice & oak tannins are intertwined with the Pedro Ximenez influence.
Finish: A PX laden creamy mouth coating, delivering enough sweetness & weight to carry the red berries on long after the dram is gone.
Bill Phil - Batch 01 : A small-batch triple distilled peated 3y 10m old single malt matured in 1st fill bourbon barrels sourced from John Teelings Great Northern Distillery, Dundalk. Bottled at 47.5% Non chill filtered and limited to 600 bottles.
Aroma: Honey glazed ripe pear scented with fragrant bergamot oil, as whispers of apple wood smoke coat the senses.
Palate: Intertwining of grapefruit zest & peat glide across poached pear, waves of phenolic oil dipped over ripen banana & cereal sweetness.
Finish: Sweet cassia float on clarified butter. The delicate smoke laden orchard fruit drift in & out drying out each crevice, lengthening a signature Earl grey tea tannic & clementine fresh oil sweetness
Lets see what everyone thought of them:
My thoughts:
Appearance: dark gold in the glass, swirls cling before falling as slow thick legs. Initial nose: tropical fruit.
Nose: huge tropical fruit notes - pineapple, mango and apricot - some drying icing sugar notes. Hints of strawberry jam and dried fruit. Some stewed rhubarb notes too.
Palate: thick syrupy arrival, a little ginger spice, a sweet orange note then sour citrus - grapefruit? More sips offer a creamy mouthfeel - smooth Irish Whisky - a soft lemony citrus note which turns into sour grapefruit.
Finish: dry spicy finish, the tropical fruit from the nose and the sour citrus are back. Nice!
Other tweeter's thoughts:
My thoughts:
Appearance: pale gold in the glass, swirls cling, beads form an inverted crown before falling as slow thin legs. Initial nose: Sweet BBQ smoke.
Nose: It's a little strange isn't it - huge new make notes - tropical fruit - bbq meat, pine and sharp citrus.
Palate: again a thick syrupy arrival, tropical fruit and citrus before the smoke takes over and a big bite of spice as the liquid disappears. leaves a citrus fizz on the tongue. A lot of new make - this seems very young - reminiscent of a young Bunna Staoisha or young Caol Ila? BBQ meats a little tropical fruit and very drying.
Finish: long lingering smoke and spice - but still with that new make edge. Not keen on this one - I think it needed more time in the cask.
Other tweeter's thoughts:
My thoughts:
Nose: huge tropical fruit notes - pineapple, mango and apricot - some drying icing sugar notes. Hints of strawberry jam and dried fruit. Some stewed rhubarb notes too.
Palate: thick syrupy arrival, a little ginger spice, a sweet orange note then sour citrus - grapefruit? More sips offer a creamy mouthfeel - smooth Irish Whisky - a soft lemony citrus note which turns into sour grapefruit.
Finish: dry spicy finish, the tropical fruit from the nose and the sour citrus are back. Nice!
Other tweeter's thoughts:
Appearance: pale gold in the glass, swirls cling, beads form an inverted crown before falling as slow thin legs. Initial nose: Sweet BBQ smoke.Nose: It's a little strange isn't it - huge new make notes - tropical fruit - bbq meat, pine and sharp citrus.
Palate: again a thick syrupy arrival, tropical fruit and citrus before the smoke takes over and a big bite of spice as the liquid disappears. leaves a citrus fizz on the tongue. A lot of new make - this seems very young - reminiscent of a young Bunna Staoisha or young Caol Ila? BBQ meats a little tropical fruit and very drying.
Finish: long lingering smoke and spice - but still with that new make edge. Not keen on this one - I think it needed more time in the cask.
Other tweeter's thoughts:
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