Clonakilty Port Cask Finish (Ireland) - Reviewed

Clonakilty Port Cask Whiskey
This premium bottling of Irish Whiskey now contains Clonakilty distilled Single Pot Still Whiskey married with Single Grain Whiskey. A beautiful marriage of whiskey from ex-bourbon barrels and ex-port casks from The Douro Valley.

Nose
Fresh, sweet apples, ripe peaches and vanilla, creamy with a hint of wood character in the background.

Palate
Very fruity with cherries, raisins and soft spices and a hint of cardamom.

Finish
Middle long with soft spice and a hint of chocolate.

It takes something of a maverick spirit, to turn the idea of building a craft distillery, into a reality. A rebel spirit, you might say.

Then again, this is the Rebel County. And you’ll find that spirit right here in Clonakilty, on the south west tip of Ireland.

An ancient, rocky coastline of jagged headlands, where 3,000 miles of ocean finally collide with land. Where whales bask offshore and the weather’s so wild, even the lighthouse keepers gave up. Where they don’t tear up the rulebook, because there isn’t one.

Out here, people do things their own way. People like the Scully family. Farming this same land for nine successive generations. Taking the considered view that Irish whiskey could be improved, by harnessing natural elements in a unique and more sustainable way.

So they set about doing just that.

Sourcing a strain of heritage barley. Growing it themselves, on land where the salty air, soft rain and sea mist infuse every grain.

Boring deep into the ancient rock formation to draw the purest, clearest spring water.

Building their own distillery, to craft the very best of whiskeys, their own way. Using un-malted barley as well as malted.

Lengthening the fermentation time, giving their natural yeast all the time it needs to enhance the flavour.

Triple-distilling the whiskey, for a lighter, sweeter spirit.

Adding the water slowly and incrementally in way they call ‘gentle cut’.

Ageing the liquid in oak casks and exposing those casks to the Atlantic air. Letting the whiskey mature for as long as it takes - even if that means the angels take more than their normal share. Divils!

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