Teeling Chinkapin Oak Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey

Introducing the Teeling Wonders of Wood Single Pot Still Chinkapin Oak Whiskey. This limited-edition whiskey has a mashbill of 50% malted barley / 50% unmalted barley, is distilled in Dublin, and fully matured in Chinkapin American White Oak. Native to Eastern and Central North America, Chinkapin oak imparts a truly distinctive taste experience. An innovative take on the famous Dublin style of whiskey, Single Pot Still Whiskey, this release demonstrates Teeling’s dedication to pushing the boundaries of Irish Whiskey flavour through unique cask maturation. The Wonders of Wood series partners with the Tree Council of Ireland, and will help to plant exclusively native Irish tree Species in a designated acre of land in the Wicklow area of Ireland.

Tasting Notes:

Appearance: Certainly, darker than Teeling’s flagship Single Pot Still Whiskey. The main-run whiskey is straw colored, while this limited edition is a brownish amber. Solid legs on the side of the glass; not particularly runny.

Nose: The Irish pot still whiskey base is still evident, though it’s remarkable the extent to which this Wonders of Wood release has taken on a different character. It’s sharp and spicy and you can smell the barley, but all that lies underneath honeyed brown sugar. The tasting notes aren’t wrong when they evoke banana bread. Sweet toffee and butterscotch, with caramel biscuit and wood tannins.

Taste: The mash bill’s inclusion of 50% un-malted barley continues to show up as spiciness in the mouth, but – again – it’s understated. The overwhelming sensation is one of a toffee-like sweetness. There’s a dark, sticky, and sugared essence to it, bringing to mind molasses in the back of the mouth. The closest analogy I can come up with is that it’s like eating the hardened, caramelized sugar layer on the top of crème brulée, if the custard underneath provides spiciness in addition to the sweet. Banana bread and ginger spices dance on the palate with a velvety cream soda coating the mouth.

Finish: The wood spice lingers, accompanied by dark chocolate and a hint of black pepper.