Hinch Craft & Casks @TweetTastings

There seems to be a lot or Irish @TweetTastings this year - I guess that's because there are a lot of new Irish distilleries and Independent Bottlers coming online.

Hinch is located just south of Belfast in Northern Ireland, they only started distilling in December 2020, to date they've filled over 300 casks., so while they wait for 3 years they're using sourced Irish whiskey, matured to their own specifications, to build their brand.

They have matured blended whiskey in ex-beer casks from two Ulster craft brewers – Whitewater Brewery in Co. Down, and Kinnegar Brewery in Co. Donegal -  it's been described by the distillery as ‘disrupting the taste profile’ of the whiskey scene. Let see what they are like!

All three bottlings use the same 75% grain / 25% malt blend.

The 3 dram's we received were:

 

Rye Export Stout Finish (43% ABV) 12 mth finish

Our Rye Export Stout Finish uses casks which aged craft beers at the Kinnegar Brewery located in beautiful Co. Donegal and renowned for producing fabulous Rye craft beers. This whiskey is superbly enhanced with aromas of dark treacle, caramel & vanilla. On the palate dark cocoa, heavily roasted coffee & chewy toffee flavours shine through. Our whiskey was aged in the craft beer casks for a minimum of 12 months. A modern and bold move for the whiskey lovers proudly made in County Down

Imperial Stout Finish (43% ABV Blend) 16 mth finish

Our Imperial Stout Finish whiskey uses casks which aged craft beers at the Whitewater Brewery in Co Down, sitting in the shadows of the Mourne Mountains. Their Kreme de la Kremlin Imperial Stout brings orchard fruits and a luxurious mouthfeel of light toffee, coffee, vanilla sweetness with cinnamon spice to follow. Our whiskey was aged in the craft beer casks for a minimum of 12 months. A modern and bold move for the whiskey lovers proudly made in County Down.

 

Irish Red Rye Finish (43% ABV Blend) 14 mth finish

Our Irish Red Rye Finish uses casks which aged craft beers at the Kinnegar Brewery located in beautiful Co. Donegal and renowned for producing fabulous Rye craft beers. On the whiskeys nose their Irish Red Rye adds sweet toffee butter cocoa a hint of red apple and orange zest citrus. On the palate rich cocoa bitterness combined with fruit boiled sweets, light vanilla and an element of sweet oak spice. Our whiskey was aged in the craft beer casks for a minimum of 12 months. A modern and bold move for the whiskey lovers proudly made in County Down.

As usual Steve ran a @TweetTasting evening with everyone sharing their thoughts:

We started with a sample of Hinch's New Make Spirit, now I don't normally review NMS but this one did stand out quite a bit.

Then it was on to the Craft Beer Cask finished drams:

My thoughts:

Appearance: Rye Export Stout pale gold in the glass, swirls cling and fall as slow thick legs.

Nose: huge tropical notes rum, pineapple, coconut, mango, limes, melted chocolate, nutty toffee.

Palate: obvious beer notes, much more than other beer cask matured whisky I've tried. A fizz on the tongue suggests citrus and toffee - some of the tropical notes from the nose come through too.

Finish: medium length tropical fruit and chocolate notes with a hint of black pepper. After a while the stout influence comes through leaving a dry nutty note on the tongue.

Other Tweeter's thoughts:

My thoughts:

Appearance: pale gold in the glass, swirls cling and forms as slow thick legs.

Nose: orchard fruit - apples, pears, apricots covered in melted chocolate. Vanilla custard and cola cubes mingle on the tongue. Again there are some beer notes.

Palate: milk chocolate, treacle toffee, coffee beans, vanilla and marzipan notes. There's some berry and liquorice notes as the liquid disappears..

Finish: lingering brown sugar and vanilla notes with a hint of liquorice and black pepper.

Other Tweeter's thoughts:

My thoughts:

Appearance: pale gold in the glass, swirls cling and fall as slow thick legs.

Nose: orange juice, vanilla, malt, cereal - a lot more grain influence on this one, and a little sweeter - although they all used the same blend. Champagne notes, lemon meringue pie and hints of chopped nuts.

Palate: the champagne notes are here with a fizz on the tongue - honey, vanilla and citrus - orange zest, digestive biscuits, black pepper.

Finish:  lingering champagne notes and vanilla notes with a hint of black pepper.

Other Tweeter's thoughts:

An interesting set of drams and a great evening of tasting!