Glendalough Pot Still
A young pot still Irish whiskey first matured in ex-Bourbon barrels for three tears and then matured in an Irish oak cask for up to a year. This particular one is from cask 2 of tree 5. Bottled at 43% ABV and RRP of €55.
Omar Fitzell Notes
Nose
First nose gives a cereal rawness that isn’t the most pleasant. Diving deeper though, this opens up to sweeter natural honey and cherries. Remains earthy throughout but with a nice spice you’d expect from an SPS.
Palate
Quite an oily mouthfeel with some very green herbal notes. Loads of peppery spice along with that malty cereal again.
Finish
Medium towards long. Nuttiness moves in but that herbal note remains king.
Overall
So, this conflicted me. For one reason really. This isn’t Glendalough’s own spirit. For a sourced finished SPS, it should honestly be better. If it was only given a longer finish in the Irish oak it could have reached higher esteem. To give credit though, fair play to them for trying it. It’s a huge step to release a young SPS. You can get away with a young malt to a certain degree, but a young SPS gives no quarter. And Irish oak isn’t exactly easy to work with for finishing.
Al Higgins notes
Nose
Lemon yoghurt, lime cordial, vanilla, honey, slightly unripe hazelnuts, almond kernels, and green hardwood bark.
Palate
Juicy with a medium mouth-feel. Nut oils, linseed oil, green oak, almonds, parsnips, a slightly musty/mushroomy note.
Finish
Some touches of green oak, citrus and tannin. It ends with more of that mushroom/mustiness flavour.
Overall
I’d give Glendalough bonus points for disclosing that this was distilled at West Cork. Unfortunately, I don’t think the Irish oak casks have had enough of a positive effect. In its youth this spirit is pretty weird. Hopefully more time will bring better results.
Omar Fitzell
Omar has been lurking in the background of the Irish Whiskey Industry since 2010 when he started his journey through tasting, enjoying and collecting whiskey. In January 2018 he launched the online blog “That’s Dram Good” which, in those few short months, has become one of the most popular whiskey blogs in Ireland.
You can find him on:
• Twitter – @thatsdramgood
• Facebook – ThatsDramGood
Al Higgins
Over 20 years of experience in drinks retail and a member of the team at the Celtic Whiskey Shop since 2003. Alastair is chief tester and taster at the shop and is also coordinator for the Irish Whiskey Awards. When he is not working he is either training for ultra-marathons, parenting or drumming with his band Le Galaxie.
You can find him on:
• Twitter – @mostlydrinking