Facts

Teeling 15 Years Old The Revival

Nose

Tropical fruits galore! Pineapples, papayas, mangoes and banana chips, combined with lots and lots of cane sugar. With some time, vanilla comes to light, together with apples, orange zest and a whiff of cinnamon. The rum influence is there, but it’s rather subtle and definitely not overpowering.

Taste

The arrival on the palate is unexpected dry and the alcohol is a bit too sharp at first. The rum influence is way more noticeable now. Peaches, pineapples, overripe bananas and dried cherries, along with cane sugar and hints of vanilla.

Finish

Rather medium than long with a drying warmth. Oily and spicy with a fruity touch.

Overall

Don’t expect a heavy rum monster, despite the super long maturation in ex-rum barrels. This is a very fine Irish whiskey with a lovely fruitiness  and a distinctive, but not overdone rum touch. Only the finish could use a little more finesse.

Score: 86 / 100

Facts

Teeling 2002 Port Wine Cask (for Irish Whiskeys)

Nose

A big basket full of green apples with some sour cherries and elderberries in between. Followed by more dark fruits. Then sultanas and almonds. Earthy undertones.

Taste

Oily and full-bodied. A mixture of sourish apples and sweetish grapefruits. Hints of lemon. Vanilla briefly appears before giving way to the spiciness of white pepper and hazelnuts. Dark chocolate.

Finish

Very long and strong. Hints of drying oak and white pepper. Fruits and earth.

Overall

Teeling makes some really good whiskey and this one is no exception. It would be really nice if we could have a port matured expression as part of their core range in the future.

Score: 88 / 100

The first one was the 21 Years Old Silver Bottling, the first Irish whiskey ever to be finished in Sauternes casks, with the other two being the 26 Years Old Gold Bottling (finished for 12 months in French white Burgundy casks, limited to 1,000 bottles) and the 30 Years Old Platinum Bottling (limited to only 250 bottles).

Just keep in mind, Teeling is not distilling any whiskey yet. Thus all Teeling expressions are more like independent bottlings, released under their own brand. Most of the stock, both new make as well as aged spirit, comes from Cooley as this was part of the agreement when the family sold the distillery to Beam Global back in 2011. Yet, it is known that they are also purchasing selected casks from other distilleries.

Be that as it may, the Teeling’s spend money and effort to build the first new distillery in Dublin after 125 years and their distillery is planned to open this year.

Facts

Teeling 21 Years Old Silver Bottling

Nose

At first a lot of floral honey. Then a delicious fruit salad made from white grapes, peaches, golden kiwi, muskmelon, pink grapefruits and raspberries. Garnished with mint. All this fruitiness is handsomely balanced by peaty and earthy notes.

Taste

Brings in the soft sweetness of ripe fruits, most noticeable of grapes, peaches and pink grapefruits with maybe even some oranges. Joined by white pepper, cinnamon and fresh oak. Again very nicely balanced by earthy undertones.

Finish

Medium. Dry oak, also a bit peppery. Once again light peaty earth. Melon balls with fresh mint.

Overall

Lovely exotic fruits combined with peaty earth for some added complexity. Surprisingly deep and rich and just impressive all around.

Score: 91 / 100

But let’s go back to the Teeling Single Malt for now. The Whiskey is a NAS but is made from a range of different ages including 23 years old malt whisky. Five (!) different cask types were used for maturation, including Sherry, Port, Madeira, White Burgundy and Cabernet Sauvignon. It will be interesting to see how good all those different cask types work together – “the more the merrier” is not always true when it comes to whisk(e)y maturation, at least in my opinion. Like the rest of the Teeling whiskeys, this Single Malt is bottled at 46% with no chill-filteration. Now that is something I like about Teeling right off the bat. I wish more distilleries would follow suit (minus the coloring of course). 

Facts

Teeling Single Malt 2014

Nose

Ripe bananas, almost overripe. Honeydew Melon. Than a touch of sweet sour white grapes. Also a winy note. Malt and vanilla infused honey. The second wave is more fruity. Green apples.

Taste

Pepper. Loads of. A true pepper shock wave. After the detonation, sweet melons come to light but the pepper is still noticeable in the background. Then Vanilla creme with a bit too much cinnamon.

Finish

Long. spicy, peppery.

Overall

What a spicy agenda we have here! Enjoyable without any knick-knacks.

Score: 83 / 100