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Teeling Single Malt

Happy St. Patrick's Day! - Part 1 of 5

1 482

@talexanderReview by @talexander

16th Mar 2017

1

  • Nose
    22
  • Taste
    21
  • Finish
    20
  • Balance
    19
  • Overall
    82

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As usual, I'm going to do a run of Irish whiskey reviews over the next couple of days, to celebrate St. Patrick's Day! Let's start with a distillery that opened on March 17 2015 - Teeling.

Teeling Single Malt is a vatting of Cooley malts finished in various casks - port, sherry, white burgundy, cabernet sauvignon and Madeira. It is NAS (though apparently there are some malts over 20 years old in here), non-coloured and non-chill-filtered. This particular one was bottled in September 2015, and I think it's been open for almost a year.

The colour is a light yellow, with a slight greenish tinge. On the nose it is crisp, clean, triple-distilled Irish malt, with lemon, cantaloupe and a hint of coconut. Grassy. Very light toffee. Unfortunately, water just mutes the nose. A nice balance between the fruit and the malt.

A little bit hot on the palate, the grassiness continues with more lemon, buttered croissant and spice (cloves and white pepper). Nutty. Mouth-watering. Green banana. Bitter. A bit too intense (though water smooths things out), given the gentleness of the nose.

The finish is a little rough, with toasted oak and lemon meringue. It's not bad (and I prefer it to their Small Batch) but it seems off-balance and unable to live up to the promise of the nose.

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4 comments

@Victor
Victor commented

Sounds about right. "...not bad (and I prefer it to their Small Batch)." about sums it up.

Since this is the Cooley guy I am very much looking forward to seeing whether the Teeling products develop and improve over time. The whiskey-making experience should already be there. I am hoping for more impressive quality in the future from Teeling. (all of their stuff should be as good as that Teeling Single Grain Cabernet Sauvignon Finish)

@talexander, thanks for your review.

7 years ago 0

@talexander
talexander commented

@Victor Yes, their single grain is fantastic - but there are some great Cooley malts out there as well.

7 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor commented

Yes, I am waiting for those great Cooley whiskeys to become great Teeling whiskeys.

7 years ago 1Who liked this?

@NNWhisky
NNWhisky commented

I was quite pleasantly surprised by the single malt. I only bought a sample as I wasn't sure if I'd like it, but I think I'd be quite happy with a full bottle

7 years ago 0

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