In November last year, the dubliners of Teeling Whiskey released 2 exclusive vintages including a 33-year-old expression (said to be the “oldest bottling of Irish Single Malt”) and a 24-year-old baby that I was fortunate enough to sample. Let’s have a closer look at it! 

Teeling 24 Year Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey was first distilled in 1991 and matured in Bourbon casks then allowed marry in Sauternes wine casks producing a wholly unique taste experience. The unique dual maturation imparts an extra depth of fruit flavours that perfectly complement the hint of smoke derived from the inclusion of a small portion of Peated malt as part of the original ingredients used in production. This small batch bottling, limited to just 5,000 70cl bottles (46% abv), were hand bottled in unique decanter bottles and come with their own certificate of authenticity.

Jack Teeling, founder of the Teeling Whiskey Company, commented, “We are extremely proud to be able to release some of the oldest ever bottlings of Irish Single Malt with our Vintage Reserve Collection. These offerings are central to our goal to help drive diversity in Irish whiskey by introducing interesting and unique small batch bottlings. There is nothing else like these Irish Single Malts on the market and represent a rare piece of Irish whiskey history in each bottle.”

Nose: Elegant, fruity & floral with brown sugar, coconut flan, custard cream, orange blossom & some juicy exotic fruits. Also some pleasant nutty hints, red fruits, candied figs, apple crumble and subtle oaky notes. A balanced and rather complex nose and a delightfully appealing initial approach :p

Palate: Quite an oily texture boasting more spices and wood influence. Some interesting notes of tea leaves and acacia honey lead the way to creamy vanilla, ginger, red berries, caramel-glazed nuts and citrusy hints. Drier notes appear towards the end with bitter orange, honeysuckle and even a slight tobacco smokiness.

Finish: Lingering with wood spices, earthy tones & mango jam.

Overall, quite a surprising & rich dram showing an elegant complexity from nose to finish with multi-layered aromas & an earthy appeal. Very different from what I’ve been used to from Teeling so far, let’s now try to put my hands on the 33-year-old 😀

Pssst! Find the recipe here!