Master of Malt Blog

Category: Irish Whiskey

With St Patrick’s Day coming up on 17 March, it seems as good a time as any to catch up with Teeling Whiskey Company’s master distiller, Alex Chasko. We get…

With St Patrick’s Day coming up on 17 March, it seems as good a time as any to catch up with Teeling Whiskey Company’s master distiller, Alex Chasko. We get the latest from the Irish whiskey distillery, and talk progressiveness in production, on-site developments, and what the influx of new distilleries means for the sector.

Are we entering the golden age of Irish whiskey? It certainly seems so. Historically there have been just four distilleries on the island of Ireland: Midleton, Bushmills, Kilbeggan and Cooley. Now there are 18 up and running, with another 16 at the planning permission stage. Growth is poised to be tremendous – and with so many new players coming on to the scene, the character of the category could shift significantly.

One of the newer players – yet with historic roots which can be traced back to 1782 – is the Dublin-based Teeling Distillery. Officially opened in 2015 by brothers Jack and Stephen Teeling, the distillery identifies as “progressive”, with a whopping 25% of its output dedicated to whiskey experiments. Its expressions are pretty tasty, too.

Teeling’s distiller is Alex Chasko, an Oregon-born Heriot-Watt Brewing & Distilling graduate who joined the company from Cooley in 2012. Who better to talk us through the Teeling operations, and give his view on the rapidly transforming Irish whiskey sector of today? Grab a dram (Irish, of course), pull up a pew and let’s get stuck in…

Don’t forget, until St Patrick’s Day you can get £5 off a bottle of Teeling Single Malt, AND win a totally one-of-a-kind fancy-pants single cask expression selected and bottled by Alex himself!

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Irish Whiskey

Waterford Distillery produces ‘world’s first’ biodynamic Irish whiskey

Annie Hayes

March 13, 2018 5:22 pm

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Though we’re yet to welcome Waterford Distillery’s first release, the Irish distillery has already garnered a reputation for its terroir-centric approach to whiskey-making. Here, CEO and founder Mark Reynier – the man who resurrected Islay’s Bruichladdich – reveals how he set about creating the first-ever biodynamic Irish whiskey…

How and where its raw ingredients are grown has been key to the Waterford philosophy since the distillery was founded back in 2014. The team sources barley from 61 different farms; harvesting, storing, malting, distilling and ageing them separately to capture their provenance.

Now, they’ve taken the notion one step further by distilling 75 tonnes of biodynamic barley – equivalent to around 25,000 litres of new-make or approximately 170 barrels – grown by local farmers John McDonnell from County Meath, and Alan Mooney and Trevor Harris from County Kildare.

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Irish Whiskey News Poitin

Put poitín first this St. Patrick’s Day

Adam O'Connell

March 12, 2018 6:03 pm

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As the world gears up to celebrate all things Emerald Isle, at MoM Towers we want to present the case for its oldest spirit, poitín! We take a look at…

As the world gears up to celebrate all things Emerald Isle, at MoM Towers we want to present the case for its oldest spirit, poitín! We take a look at the past, present and future of the drink with help from Teeling Whiskey and London’s The Sun Tavern bar, plus we check out some cracking cocktail suggestions and explore top bottlings.

St. Patrick’s Day, observed annually on 17 March, is generally a divisive occasion. For some it is all fun and festivities, celebrating the Irish people and their contribution to the world. For others, it is an infuriating time of year, a day of international patronisation, stereotyping and cultural appropriation that leads to a night out only possibly outdone by New Year’s Eve on the ‘God, why did I bother?’ scale.

But there’s nothing wrong with wanting to have a good time this St. Patrick’s Day, or cherishing the Irish in you (no matter how dubious the connections). So why not leave the leprechaun outfits at home, along with the references to ‘drink’, ‘potatoes’, ‘to be sure to be sure’ and ‘top of the morning’, and celebrate it with a new terrific tipple. A surprising spirit with a rich history, cocktail potential and huge taste. No, not whiskey – poitín!

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Competitions Irish Whiskey

Win a super-special single cask Teeling Irish whiskey for St Patrick’s Day!

Kristiane Sherry

March 8, 2018 1:00 pm

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WIN a fancypants, one-of-a-kind, specially-created-for-you decanter of Teeling Irish Whiskey hand-drawn and signed by the distillery’s very own master distiller Alex Chasko from a 1991 single malt cask. Your name…

Enjoy £5 off Teeling Single Malt right up until St Patrick’s Day!

Delicious, delicious single malt Irish whiskey AND the chance to win something fabulous… what more could you want this March?!

It’s that time of year again. St Patrick’s Day (17 March) is just around the corner and we increasingly find ourselves reaching into our drinks cabinets for a drop of something tasty from the Emerald Isle (we do this throughout the year, but nothing quite hits the spot quite like Irish whiskey in early March…). So we’re super excited to team up with Teeling Whiskey to give you the chance to win a very special bottling from a 1991 single malt cask!

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Welcome to The Macallan Whisky Lounge: the UK’s first!

Adam O'Connell

February 15, 2018 4:43 pm

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The rumours are true – The Macallan Whisky Lounge has hit the UK! We fill you in on all the details, talk to the bar manager about what to expect,…

The rumours are true – The Macallan Whisky Lounge has hit the UK! We fill you in on all the details, talk to the bar manager about what to expect, and walk you through an exclusive World Whisky Tour…

It’s not often a celebrated whisky distillery opens a dedicated whisky lounge, but Speyside masters The Macallan have only gone and done just that. Located within Vauxhall-based European-Japanese fusion restaurant Four Degree, this is the brand’s first UK lounge, with the other situated on the second floor of the Galaxy Hotel in Macau, China (the Vauxhall location is thankfully a far simpler commute).

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Irish Whiskey

NYC bar The Dead Rabbit to launch its very own Irish whiskey!

Annie Hayes

January 30, 2018 5:27 pm

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As The Dead Rabbit nears its fifth anniversary, the New York bar – home to the largest collection of Irish whiskey in North America – is making room for a…

As The Dead Rabbit nears its fifth anniversary, the New York bar – home to the largest collection of Irish whiskey in North America – is making room for a rather special bottle of its own: The Dead Rabbit Irish Whiskey.

If you’re partial to a cocktail or two, you’ll no doubt be familiar with the multi-award-winning Manhattan bar – if not for its numerous ‘World’s Best Bar’ accolades, then likely for its frankly outrageous Irish Coffee.

Which makes it all the more exciting that co-founders Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry have partnered with Darryl McNally, master distiller at The Dublin Liberties Distillery, to release their own blended Irish whiskey.

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Irish Whiskey

Five Irish whiskey innovations as exports soar by 20% in 2017!

Annie Hayes

January 11, 2018 6:16 pm

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Luck of the Irish? As 2017 Irish whiskey exports reach a staggering €600 million, we select five of the category’s most creative bottlings to demonstrate why its success is anything…

Luck of the Irish? As 2017 Irish whiskey exports reach a staggering €600 million, we select five of the category’s most creative bottlings to demonstrate why its success is anything but chance…

Mere days ago, we brought you news that Irish whiskey tourism was booming, with recent figures revealing 814,000 of us charged through the island’s distillery doors in 2017. Frankly, it doesn’t take a genius to work out there’s a reason why we’re all packing our bags for the next flight to Dublin – it’s because we can’t get enough of the stuff!

Yesterday, Bord Bia (Ireland’s food agency) revealed the full scope of our obsession in its latest export performance report. For scale, total Irish beverage exports (alcoholic and non-alcoholic – everything) were worth €1.5 billion last year, and Irish whiskey accounts for more than one third of that.

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Irish Whiskey

Irish whiskey distilleries attract more than 800,000 visitors!

Annie Hayes

January 9, 2018 4:33 pm

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Did you take a trip to the Emerald Isle last year? Irish whiskey distilleries welcomed a whopping 814,000 of us through their doors in 2017 – proving once again that…

Did you take a trip to the Emerald Isle last year? Irish whiskey distilleries welcomed a whopping 814,000 of us through their doors in 2017 – proving once again that our ardour for Ireland’s finest cannot be quelled.

2017 was a cracking year for the Irish whiskey category. A wealth of thrilling new brands burst onto the scene, global sales hit more than 100 million bottles (cementing its place as the world’s fastest-growing spirits category), and we visited the island’s distilleries in our droves. Footfall grew by 11% compared to the previous year, according to fresh data from the Irish Whiskey Association, with the majority of whiskey fans hailing from the US and the UK as well as Germany, France and northern Europe.

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Irish Whiskey Scotch Whisky

Whisky Advent 2017 Day #22: BenRiach 10 Year Old

Adam O'Connell

December 22, 2017 12:00 pm

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It’s 22 December, which means that we have a mere two drams left after today in Drinks by the Dram’s Whisky Advent Calendar. #WhiskyAdvent is starting to draw to its…

It’s 22 December, which means that we have a mere two drams left after today in Drinks by the Dram’s Whisky Advent Calendar. #WhiskyAdvent is starting to draw to its conclusion, folks!

I bloody love #WhiskyAdvent. You know why? Because it brings this unique, whisky-soaked form of Christmas to so many people in so many places, and, ultimately, that’s what the season is all about (presumably).

And guess what? We’re not stopping yet! Behind window #22, there’s a dashing dram of… BenRiach 10 Year Old!

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Irish Whiskey Rum

Whisky Advent 2017 Day #7: Roe & Co Irish Whiskey

Adam O'Connell

December 7, 2017 12:02 pm

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Seven is your heaven today folks, with #WhiskyAdvent saving us from the rigmarole with another delightful dram. It’s time to discover what’s behind window #7 of Drinks by the Dram’s…

Seven is your heaven today folks, with #WhiskyAdvent saving us from the rigmarole with another delightful dram. It’s time to discover what’s behind window #7 of Drinks by the Dram’s Whisky Advent Calendar…

As the first week of December concludes, you’re probably aware that we’ve rapidly reached the time of year that’s spent nervously shuffling through office Christmas parties or bemusedly sitting in the audience of school nativity plays (although, it must be said, replacing the three wise men with The Avengers was an odd, but brilliant touch).

Well, this festive season, let’s claw back some ‘me time’. Here to remind you of the joy that this time of year can bring, we have a fantastic single malt waiting to be savoured behind window #7… it’s Roe & Co Irish Whiskey!

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Master of Malt Blog

Category: Irish Whiskey