Teeling Whiskey – Made In Dublin
Twice. The number of times I thought I had been to Dublin previously, but I was wrong. I have a habit of that. Having been a wine merchant and writer for many years, I am convinced the cranial sub-section of my brain containing memory has diminished over time. Does anyone else feel the same? I was telling a friend about my trip, and how it was only my second trip to Ireland when they reminded me of a wedding I had photographed there. It took a few minutes of ruminating and navigating the passages of my memory, but recollections started to resurface slowly until I could even recall the name of the restaurant the reception was held at. What I don’t recall are the bride and groom’s names or visiting any distilleries, which is such a shame!
Teeling Whisky is located in the Liberties area of Dublin, a short walk heading southwest from the tourist mecca and wallet-busting Temple Bar. Historically a working-class area, it is steeped in history, most famously for being home to Guinness, which attracts an extraordinary amount of visitors each year. Teeling does not have a barrel warehouse here though, not only due to space restrictions, but the fire hazard it presents. James, my guide for the visit, pointed out that traditionally wet horse manure was used to extinguish frequent fires which occurred. The Liberties is my sort of place – real pubs with decent Guinness, and fairly priced. An absence of tourists taking selfies every minute, leaving the Dubliners to enjoy a pint in peace. Except for this tourist…
Teeling may have reopened in 2015, but its history dates back to 1782 when Walter Teeling set up a small craft distillery nearby on Marrowbone Lane. Resurrecting a family business, however, does not have to mean paying homage to historic relevance and working in age-old practices. In fact, Stephen and Jack Teeling have done the opposite, creating a modern distillery which produces whiskey in small batches with innovative cask maturations and a young team. As you head toward the distillery from Temple Bar, walking alongside the Liffey, which runs for 82 miles before flowing into Dublin Bay, you feel you are heading in the wrong direction. Yet, there is a sense the distillery is close by, evidenced by the Teeling-branded barrels the pubs are using outside as tables. A fantastic marketing move that also upcycles. I like it.
Alex Chasko was their very first employee, a master distiller and blender from Portland, Oregon. Portland is known for having more breweries than any other city on earth (at the last count, seventy). That means serious competition, and those that stand still will lose. Being on the West Coast of the USA, you may be inclined to think that the beer scene is relatively new, but in fact, the first brewery here was Henry Saxer’s “Liberty Brewery” in Portland, established 1852. Alex found himself in Ireland, having married an Irish lady, and was aware of the emerging buzz around Irish Whiskey and wanted to be part of it. A meeting with Jack in 2012 highlighted how aligned their vision was and the rest is history.
And history is exactly what Teeling is making. Being a veteran of hundreds upon hundreds of vineyard visits as a wine author, I have heard every sales pitch imaginable, but the ones that stand out don’t sing their praises, instead of proving relevant context whilst letting their product do the talking. This was the case with Jack, who was a pot still full of knowledge. Tasting through the range, not once did he say how good the whiskey was, confident in their inherent quality. Sometimes an ambassador can seem bored, it might be their tenth press visit of the week, but James was perfectly enthusiastic, even popping off to his office to get a dram of something interesting that he was genuinely excited to show me.
I love alcohol, not just for the buzz, but primarily for the variety and abundance of flavours in all sectors, be it whiskey, beer, or wine. There is a new taste waiting to be discovered and enjoyed. Am I analytical? I certainly used to be, but these days it has as much to do with how a drink makes me feel, if it makes me smile, if I want to go back for more or move on to the next, that is just as important.
For me, Teeling is the dream distillery, it is not afraid to innovate, be bold, challenge our palates, and release a multitude of expressions. Using three Pot Stills, made by the historic Italian firm Frili (established in 1912), who are renowned historically for making stills for Grappa production. By design, they are modelled after the traditional Dublin stills that would have dominated the city distilleries of the past. The sizes are 15,000L, 10,000L and 9,000L. If you are wondering, the different sizes are due to reducing the amount of liquid each time they run the still. They start with 30,000L of wash at about 8% ABV. This is run through the first still twice to create enough liquid to fill the second still, with the maximum amount of water left behind (known as Pot Ale) each time. At the end of the run through the three stills, approximately 2,500 LPA’s (liquid pure alcohol) from 30,000 litres of 8% wash is left.
The stills are named after Jack Teeling’s daughters, Alyson, Natalie and Rebecca, and the spirit is double or triple distilled. It is interesting to note that the stills are non-operational for 2 weeks a year whilst they are serviced and cleaned.
Prior to the stills being used, of course, is the milling of the grain. Teeling uses a variable wet mill. This mill is a lot safer to use as it soaks the grain in water before milling enabling visitors to experience all of the sounds and visuals of our production process (if running at the time or course). It also has the added benefit of being highly flexible on the type of grain that it can process, meaning they can create many different varieties of spirit.
Once milled, the grain goes into one of two Oregon Pine fermenters (15,000L in size) or a larger 30,000L stainless steel fermenter. The water is drawn from their own well from the Dublin aquifer and is treated on-site at the distillery. Using both types allows Teeling to combine both modern techniques with traditional methods. The wooden fermenters generate their own bacteria & yeast culture, which imparts unique flavours to the batch early on in the production process. However, the wooden fermenters are not as efficient as the closed stainless steel. The best way to think of it is the wooden fermenters maximise flavour while the stainless steel allows them to get up to the 8% abv required. The wooden fermenters take approximately one day, whilst in the steel, it is two to three days.
Once distilled, the spirit is aged in ex-bourbon casks to make small batches of individual whiskey. As you would expect, not all is bottled immediately with some receiving further maturation and finishing in rum casks. Rum can be as diverse as whiskey, with a multitude of countries producing it, so there is no shortage of casks to offer a plethora of choices. This all contributes to the excitement of Teeling.
The majority of whisky in the range is bottled at 46%. This is not a decision made by accountants (cask strength whisky is watered down to the desired strength usually), but through tasting panels. The panels were given Teeling in a range from 38% (not legally whiskey) upwards. It was found that the sweet spot was 46% so that is what they have stuck with. I love this choice – putting consumer preferences first.
With the Small Batch Rum Cask priced at only 35 euro, it is a big hitter for the money with an explosion of flavour. Grain and malt whiskeys are aged separately in a 3:1 proportion respectively, before finishing in ex-rum casks for up to 12 months. This gives a beautiful aroma of dried dark fruits.
The Single Grain 13 is also worth searching out. It has 95% corn and 5% barley in the mash bill, with the corn coming from France – although it can be grown in Ireland, it is not of the industrial-grade needed. It is a step up from the perfectly acceptable standard Single Grain but more flavourful and complex with morello cherries, vanilla and coffee showing through with good length. It has been aged in barrels from California which previously held Cabernet Sauvignon. For me, the barrels are an inspired choice as they counter and balance the sweetness of the corn.
The Single Malt shows waxy citrus fruits, aged in a mixture of white wine, bourbon, Madeira and port casks with some 20-year sherry cask added to the blend. Its average age is twelve to thirteen years. With the variety of casks used, blending would have been a highly skilled job and one that has been accomplished well.
What you have to try, of course, is the Pot Still, which I immediately felt would be the one in the range best suited to accompanying food. It is triple distilled, with a mash bill of 50% malted and 50% unmalted barley. It is then aged in American virgin oak, bourbon and sherry casks, giving it a unique style and flavour.
Blackpitts is Teeling’s peated single malt. The name derives from an area just behind the distillery, historically home to several barley malting houses. This whisky has undergone three distillations, which breaks down the salt/iodine, and clearly differentiates it from those made in Islay. Inoculation takes place with white wine yeasts and ageing in bourbon and Sauterne casks. This is a barbecue in a glass, with the smoke slowly building and adding complexity to the whiskey. The peat is bought in from Scotland at 55ppm (parts per million) but after distillation, it is 15ppm.
If you are in Dublin and visit the distillery you may get lucky, as John Teeling (the founders’ father) comes into the distillery quite a lot. He will regularly start the tour by giving a whole breakdown of the history of the family, along with a great background of the entire Irish Whiskey industry & History. This usually delays the rest of the tours for the day, but it’s certainly worth it for what he brings to the experience.
www.teelingwhiskey.com
