Glendalough Pot Still Irish Oak Finish

N: Mineral water, coconut water, passion fruit, shredded coconut, green apple, cinnamon. Ethanol numbs you after a bit, but you never really smell it. Let it sit, rest the nose, come back: banana, vanilla, bread pudding - actually sort of has a Nilla Wafer thing going on, which is kind of amazing because I hadn't thought of those things in like a decade plus until just now. Oaky, sort of vague pot still spices finish it out. P: Oh, that's dry - first thought. Smooth, coating, rich mouthfeel, but not quite rising to oily. Bitter finish. Struggling to grab specific flavor notes - it's a lot of dry, bitter, and tannic pucker. A cinnamon Red Hots type heat settles in late in the finish, but it's only in spots, not the tongue tattoo you get from some bourbons. Late in the pour, starting to get some vanilla and cherry, faintly sweet bread pudding, and maybe some sour green apple. There's a chalky, mineral aftertaste that you notice basically after the finish has run its course (still some lingering tingle, but mostly done). This makes me go back and think more in that direction while tasting: fresh pour comes across earthy and a bit like a hoppy beer. Maybe there's some pine needle in it. I feel like what I wrote above is not a great review. And really this is not a great whiskey, best I can tell. But it is kinda interesting and, after 2.5 months with this bottle—which is now about one pour from empty—I never hated it, never really thought that I was struggling to get a flavor profile (until I tried to write it down). It is very untraditional - for pot still or for whiskey generally. It's an experiment, with the Irish oak and all.* I dig that - probably not enough to buy it again, but certainly enough to take a chance on the next Glendalough bottle, Irish oak and all, and to recommend others do the same. I'd like to think there are innovations to be made in distilling. Glendalough seems to be looking for them. *The line between experiment and gimmick can be pretty thin, but this seems to land on the right side of that line. Trying a new wood seems inherently risky rather than an attempt to create and/or cash in on a trend - kudos to Glendalough for taking a shot.

Be forewarned. This is more a rueful rant than a review. Glendalough is my local distillery and I drive past it daily. They are operational for about 10 years and produce a lot of well regarded gin, as many young distilleries do. For their initial whiskey releases they purchased Cooley stock and sold it under their own brand. Again, par for the course with young Irish distilleries. Some of them are excellent like the 17yo mizunara finish single malt. But they hadn’t yet produced their own whiskey. I fancied owning something produced in my area, so I decided to wait. This is a 4yo whiskey, and they released it with fanfare in 2019 as their first pot still whiskey. It came out around the same time as Teeling and Drumshanbo were doing likewise. Great, I thought. They used oak from a local forest for the final year of virgin oak maturation. Even better, I thought. It’d be warming to have an inaugural release so firmly rooted in the area I now call home: a fresh, first still-run from the distIllery down the road; a lovingly barrelled and carefully watched-over piece of Wicklow; nectar from the “Garden of Ireland“. Filled with romantic notions and local pride I bought a bottle. I later learned that this first release of Glendalough pot still was not their own distillate. It annoys me that I went ‘all in’ on an alluring fantasy. Poor research on my part, and I guess a lack of transparency on theirs. Even the official blurb here in Distiller describes it as “the distillery’s first pot still whiskey“. It was their first pot still whiskey release, but not THEIR first pot still whiskey. The provenance of the whiskey doesn’t alter the taste, I know that, and this is still a solid whiskey (I particularly like the virgin oak finish). But something leaves a bitter taste…

Bottle 296, Batch 001, Cask 5, Tree 12. I once owned a Glen of Imaal Terrier. It’s ok if you’ve never heard of them; I’ll wait while you look them up, and please do…it’s worthwhile. Lineage says they likely originated from the farms of County Wicklow. He was the best dog I’ve ever known, and I figured if the county can produce whisky that’s half as good as the dog, it’ll be fantastic. So I finally found and grabbed this bottle. Nose is quite restrained, and hits me in three distinct segments, first as soft tropical fruits and then coconut and then weathered oak. Ethanol is low with this, so don’t be afraid to root around and look for others. A little more digging finds light honeysuckle and slight pine pitch, but that’s about all I could pull out. Palate opens very, very dry, and is yet somehow creamy, like a really nice Chardonnay; apples, pears, green grapes and honeydew dance lightly around your mouth before it too quickly turns to very bitter grass and blanched almonds. Close is so short it could aptly be called abrupt, leaving just the smallest bit of vanilla and honey before fading completely to a flavorless tingle that continues for another 20 seconds. So how did this compare to the best dog I’ve ever known? Not all that well, if I’m honest. The potential is there…creamy, vibrant, multi-faceted, but it just turns too bitter, too fast. A reasoned rating is probably a 3.25. However, I will try another offering because I’m nostalgic (and stubborn, just like the dog). Maybe a few more years in a different wood will make all the difference. Either way, I like that I can look at the bottle and fondly recall the dog. And this is my review, and my rating, and to me that’s worth another half a point, so 3.75 it is.

Really digging this. Quite different from the buttery melon-y flavors I’m used to tasting in a pot still Irish. Nose: There is initially something that smells off with this dram. Maybe because I was expecting something a little more rounded and subtle like other pot stills. What greets you though is this sharp zesty, lemon, citrus note that sits atop the sweet buttery bread like notes. It’s floral, herbal-like, and piney, which I think comes from the last year sitting in the Irish oak. It’s different than something that sits only in American oak. It might turn some people off but I love something new and different. Palate: The taste for me is pretty damn up there. It’s not super oily which is a bummer . But like I said, I really like something that is different and throws me for a loop. The herbal, piney, almost tea like flavors get you up front. The citrus doesn’t come through on the palate, but the honey biscuit, buttery notes I love about pot stills shines through on the mids. The finish is moderately wood spiced but there isn’t a ton there if you take a single sip. If you take a few, it builds up. This reminds of those days where I’d walk along with my parents as a kid picking out a live Christmas tree. I remember touching every tree I could get my hands on and many times when leaving, I’d get pine residue on my fingers. I hated it because it was always a ***** to wash off but it always left this pine sap smell that this dram reminds me of.

Been a while since I've put together a rating - such is life sometimes, but I've had a handful of new tastes, and its time to get back at it. This has a truly unique nose - if you brought this to me blind, I wouldn't be able to identify it as an Irish, but at the same time wouldn't tag it as Scotch, Bourbon, Japanese, or any other style - its out on the proverbial island. Somewhat floral, slightly resinous...mild sweetness, moderate spice, and quite complex. I think its safe to say I enjoy the nose, but it feels somewhat youthful. The flavor is similarly unique - wood-forward, and lacking the sweetness of, well, basically any other pot still Irish I've consumed (which admittedly isn't extensive). An easy sip, but not one you consume quickly. This is an intriguing bottle to have on the shelf - I'm happy to have it, but it will admittedly be an 'every so often when I'm looking for something unique' type pour

Der Glendalough Pot Still entsteht aus gemälzter und ungemälzter irischer Gerste. Er reifte 3 Jahre in Bourbonfässern und anschliessend bis zu einem Jahr in einem seltenen Fass aus irischer Eiche. Die höheren Anteile an gerösteter Eiche und Vanillearomen, die irische Eiche in die Flüssigkeit einbringt, ergänzen und balancieren die klassischen Pot-Still-Gewürze. Jede Flasche ist nummeriert und kann zu jedem Fass und sogar zu dem Baum zurückverfolgt werden, von dem sie stammt. Nase: Pot Still-Gewürz und getrocknete Rosinen. Wird süsser mit Luftzugabe. Gaumen: sehr luxuriöses Mundgefühl. Würzig mit getrockneten Früchten, mit einer süssen Note. Finish: mittellang, intensive Würznoten.