A good few years ago I worked for a company based in Dublin, Ireland. It was around the start of the renaissance of Irish whiskey, so a great time to be travelling over there. There were new distilleries popping up all over the place, and new liquid to try in the many bars and pubs of the city. One of those pubs was Searsons. It just so happened it was staggering distance from the office and from my regular hotel. I spent many evenings perched behind the bar, working my way through a great selection of whiskeys and beers.

One whiskey, in particular, was a little out of reach. Not least because it took up the entire top shelf of the bar! Searsons has an incredibly impressive collection of Midleton Very Rare bottlings. In fact, they claim to be the only bar in the world with 2 complete collections on display. That’s every vintage since 1984. A dram of the latest release would set you back €25, and so there were always more appealing whiskeys to try. The Midleton release remained eyes only. Until very recently.

When a friend offered to send me a dram of the 2021 release for a good price I had to agree. It was beyond time to find out what the fuss is all about. I was excited, but also somewhat apprehensive. Whisk(e)y marketing being what it is, I was well aware that this could be overhyped nonsense. You’ll have to read on to see what I thought!

The Liquid

This is a very limited annual release of the rarest and finest whiskeys available to the master blender. Bottled at 40%, and therefore, presumably chill filtered. One would also assume that colouring is added as there is no mention to the contrary that I can find.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Shortbread. Quite malty.

Palate: Oak, water and a little sulphur. Completely lacking in depth.

Finish: Quite short and bitter. A hint of spice.

Conclusions

You might have guessed it from the lack of many tasting notes, I did not like this at all. In fact, I have redacted my actual first impressions, as those are not suitable for print. It’s a fine example of style over substance. I can only conclude that this is marketing horse shit and that this release is purely aimed at collectors and not at drinkers. Why would a “rare” release be bottled at 40% otherwise? Let me decide how to drink it. At £300 a bottle I don’t think I’m asking for much.

I’m very glad to have had the chance to try this whiskey, but I will not be trying it again. I most certainly will not be adding it to my collection!

At least we can conclude that the Irish Whiskey marketing department is alive and well, and has been for a very long time.

Now where did I put that bottle of Teeling?