You’ve undoubtedly heard by now the fuss surrounding this single cask, and if you haven’t, stay reading. Unfortunately, the attention was for all the wrong reasons, it should have never been about the euros €€€…. What they aren’t telling you about The Temple Bar single cask from Redbreast, its F$%^ing good! Very very good!
I am lucky enough to have been able to sample the majority of the single cask range from Redbreast and yea, wow. You are experiencing the very best that Middleton Distillery has to offer, and you could call their single cask range their “showcase” of sorts, or even their “examples of excellence”.
So then why has this particular Single cask had so much attention?
MONEY MONEY MONEY
Sadly its price. And at an initial release price of €850 it was out of reach of most whiskey drinkers/enthusiasts. What’s worse is that price changed rather quickly after release and jumped up to an eye-watering €1,250.00, Sigh.
If you’re a fan of Redbreast Single cask releases then you’d know that this far surpasses any other releases to date in terms of price (even when compared to the La Maison Du Whisky 25yr old on the secondary market)! However there’s been a fluctuation of pricing in recent months, from €850 up to €1,250, then down to €750, and then down to €600, annnd now currently at a “sale” price of €550 on The Temple Bars website ( at time of writing).
Still on the high side of the range but nonetheless within reach and of much better value than was previously priced.
BANG FOR YOUR BUCK?
I hear you ask , Brian what do I get then if I fork over the €550?
Let me tell you.
You get a 26-year-old, non-chill filtered, Redbreast Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey. Distilled in 1991 and filled in first-fill Bourbon Barrels, left to mature for 17 (ish) years, and then re-casked into a first-fill Sherry cask and left to mature for a further 8 (ish) years, giving a grand total of 26-years maturation. Once bottled the cask yielded a total of 618 bottles at 53.9%ABV.
THE GOODS
So is it good?
It’s worth trying for yourself, I’m aware that not everyone has the same palate when it comes to whiskey, but for me, I really enjoyed everything this Single Cask had to offer. Complex, well balanced and so full of flavor it’s insane. My tasting notes:
Visual: Beautiful brown sherry/Treacle
Nose: Initial bang of exotic dried fruits, with a slight hint of dark chocolate and an even slighter hint of coffee, pot still spice, and Antique oak.
Palate: Mouthwatering sweetness and white peppery spice mixed with oily tannins, beautifully balanced nuttiness eventually giving way to a bitter dark chocolate dryness. Strange how I found it went from mouthwatering to dry.
Finish: a lovely balanced bittersweetness combined with that unmistakable redbreast spice. The spice starts out in the middle of the tongue and continues towards the back of the throat. Very well balanced and complex, plenty of oak influence, very more-ish.
RIGHT THERE FOLKS PLEASE…..
To sum up, it really is an incredible expression. Certainly a showcase. And I don’t mean to be “big upping” this whiskey by any means but, when something is good its good and I tend to call it as it is. Just a shame there was so much F&%$ing around with pricing at the start, it got the right attention for all the wrong reasons! Now that it’s at a far more affordable price, I’d highly recommend trying it, even if you bottle share it with friends. After all, sharing is caring…..Sláinte.
In the interest of transparency, I purchased my own Bottle and sample of the above, all opinions are my own and were in no way influenced from any outside parties.
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