Midleton 1998, Ref 386, 59.7%
This gem, and it is a gem, is available at La Maison du Whisky. I tried it at Whiskylive and knew immediately I had to keep a portion for further ‘study’. Thankfully I also had a few sample bottles with me which I surreptitiously used. A lesson I learnt the hard way in Scotland: Always bring sample bottles when visiting distilleries.
This is an Irish Whiskey from the Midleton distillery, the same distillery that makes Jameson, Redbreast, Green Spot/Yellow Spot etc. These are all blended whiskies with varying levels of pure pot still in them, but Midleton does release single cask pure pot still vintages such as this one from time to time. As you can tell, this is something very special for Irish Whiskey.
No photo available! I will have to borrow one from LMDW’s French site..
Nose: Big sweet sherried nose. First fill sounds right. Fresh and sweet sherry notes this time: Moist cake with thick syrupy figs and dates, dusted with cocoa. But also big black pepper. The Irishness is not lost however, pot still character can be detected, a metallic red tangy juiciness. Old dry leather. Very well melded nose that offers a surprise after a few moments: rose candy! Right, Turkish Delight.
Palette: Very sweet. The Irish thumbprint is bolder here, but it is also much spicier than the nose suggests. All these figgy, date-y notes as expected, and the piquant tang of high quality black pepper too. Sweet nutmeg (the preserved fruit) and gets hotter towards the finish. There is that rose-y fragrance again.
Finish: Long and sweet. Very port-like.
So if you love sherried whisky and have a weakness for the smoothness of Irish whiskey. This one is most definitely for you. Otherwise it is still excellent – balanced, well melded and matured, the Irish losing out just a little, but its DNA is clearly evident. Kudos to LMDW.
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