Teeling Barleywine

The Teeling boys like to experiment with all kinds of casks. Take this Barleywine for example, a small batch release in collaboration with Galway Bay Brewery. First a maturation of about 6 years on bourbon casks and then a finish on barleywine (actually a heavy beer). I recently presented this at an Irish whiskey tasting and it was very well received.

Soft nose with a sharp edge and no, that is not contradictory. The typical apple, melon, citrus and overripe cherries that I often detect in this whiskey are present here as well, but it also sports a bit of a weird note of the barleywine. Spicy and green on pepper, without being very outspoken. But most importantly: it smells a bit like wilted flowers.

That does not hurt the palate, though. Full flavoured on cherries, apple and sultanas and something I cannot quite pinpoint, but reminds me of genever. Playful and rather atypical compared to other whiskies I have tried from this distillery. That does make it quite interesting.

The finish is fairly long, mildly drying but above all prickly and sweet.

Nice Teeling, but nothing more. The nose was kinda difficult (that’s a euphemism). Between 40 and 50 EUR. There’s better Teeling available for that money.