Brothers-in-arms, 14yo Irish Single Malt, 43%
Just for a change of pace (because everyone needs to get different once in a while), a blended Irish by Vom Fass. Von Fass is a German retailer of fine oils, vinegars, syrups, wines and spirits, including whisk(e)y. But visit their outlet at Ion Orchard and you might notice that about half the shop floor is dedicated to various spirits. Nor is it a standard distributor for the major companies, Vom Fass does have some interesting things, like bespoke blends and their own Fass Zination line.
This one was blended for them by the Teeling brothers, and is a blend of 21 year old sherry matured and 14 year old bourbon matured Malt. It is worth noting that this means half the stuff in here is much older than 14 years. A bit more about the Teeling brothers: Stephen and Jack have distilling in their blood. An ancestor Walter Teeling had set up a distillery in Dublin back in 1782, and John Teeling himself set up the modern Cooley distillery in 1985. After the sale of Cooley to Beam, Stephen and Jack themselves too set out to emulate their forebear’s footsteps by leaving Cooley’s employ and starting Teeling Distillery in 2012. Fortunately they wisely negotiated some Cooley stock as part of their departure, and I wonder wonder wonder if that is the source of all the unnamed Irish Single Malt that’s been bottled the last couple of years. Cash flow generation for their new distillery.
(Photo – Stephen’s twitter. lol.)
There isn’t a bottle presentation for this, you can buy however much of it you want bottled in Vom Fass’ glass take away bottles, so here’s a bottling of this great up and coming distillery.
Nose: Quite un-malty, instead it’s clean and layered with fruity high notes: Grapefruit, lime skins, some passionfruit juice, soursop. Then mounds of cut grass then some heavier vegetable oil. Fried banana. Little notes of leather, hot copper and sweet cream. I get it – I feel the two brothers, one with a fruity light personality and the other the brooder bringing heavier bassnotes. Not very expressive, but together terrifically welcoming and ‘easy’. Nicely balanced.
Palate: Here, heaviness shows first. Heavy vegetal oils and fried notes. Hot copper and a sweet richness. Menthol rub. Quickly turns to dry spices and splintered wood, and increasing mentholated towards the finish.
Finish: A bit hot dusty peppery. Some fruity notes showing up at the very last.
Tasty tasty! Great nose, though the heavier brother clearly had the upper hand on the tongue. Would buy. Excellent blending, daily drinker.
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