"Top Level Irish Whiskey Is Now Better Than Scotch"
That's not my headline so if any of the rowdier clans take issue with the sentiment let the folks at 111 Buckingham Palace Rd, Victoria, London SW1W 0SR, UK know, or go direct to the sole remaining billionaire Barclay bro, Sir Frederick. Be forewarned, he guards his privacy and you may have to scale the walls at Brecqhou.
From The Telegraph, March 15:
Ahead of St Patrick's Day, one expert says the tables are turning, and explains exactly how to find the perfect Irish whiskey
Ahead of St Patrick's Day, one expert says the tables are turning, and explains exactly how to find the perfect Irish whiskey
If there are any doubtful discerning drinkers left out there, be
assured Irish whiskey is an irrefutable investment opportunity. The
current crop of producers are presenting jaw-dropping innovation and
extraordinarily rare releases, placing this spirit in the cross hairs of
all avid collectors. And thanks to this blossoming assemblage of luxury
opportunities Irish whiskey is becoming a fine alternative to Scotch.
Sukhinder Singh, co-owner and founder of The Whisky Exchange,
is a leading exponent on the sale, sourcing and collecting of old and
rare whisky, and is happy to substantiate the claim that there is a rush
for Irish whiskey gold.
“Irish whiskey (like all other whisky) is on fire right now,” says
Singh. “Special releases are selling out quickly. We released the
Redbreast 1989, 30YO Port Cask for £675.00 and it sold in half the time
we expected. There are many new distilleries in Ireland, some are coming
of age and releasing new products of just a few thousand bottles, and
they sell out within minutes. The annual Midleton Very Rare yearly
vintages are also in extreme demand, selling for five times their
release price within days.”
When considering the new, Singh points to the early releases from the Waterford Distillery,
a pioneering producer releasing highly collectible spirit. After 40
years working in the world of wine and spirits, Waterford’s founder Mark
Reynier focused on uber-provenance and terroir or, as Waterford styles
it: ‘Teireoir’. These unique single malt whiskies couldn’t be more
Irish, using barley varieties grown in different areas of the country,
harnessing microclimates and soil conditions to explore the impact on
flavour.
Redbreast 27 Year Old
“Our mantra is ‘barley forward, terroir driven’,” says Reynier.
“Waterford is set up to produce the most profound single malt whisky
possible by focusing on production values - the barley and its
provenance - rather than spinning well-worn marketing platitudes.
“We take advantage of Ireland’s first-class barley combined with the
authority of single malt whisky distillation only. Propagating heritage
barleys from seed banks as far back as the middle ages allows us to
explore the origins of flavour and to reintroduce these lost flavours,
producing the most natural spirit possible - flavour rather than
economically led.”
The project is a success - The Whisky Exchange reported the 1,500
bottles of the two first single farm origin releases, Bannow Island 1.1
and Ballykilcavan 1.1, sold out within a few hours.
Meanwhile certain rare and old Irish finds are competing with Scottish releases, indeed rare prices are rocketing, with Teeling Whiskey tapping into this demand for luxury.
Midleton Very Rare Vintage Release 2021
John Teeling established the Cooley Distillery in the late 80s, but
sold in 2012 and the Teeling family subsequently opened in the heart of
Dublin later that year, becoming the first new distillery in the city in
over 125 years. Its aim, like many others emerging in Ireland now, has
been to create something unique, and founder Stephen Teeling explains
how the ambition was to launch luxury spirits.
“We saw a need for a new approach and focused more on crafting very
unique, distinctively different styles of Irish whiskey that appealed to
our generation,” says Teeling.
“Scotch whiskey had dominated this segment of the market for over 30
years and there was no producer showcasing how amazing aged Irish single
malt could be. We were lucky enough as a family to have a selection of
some of the world’s oldest Irish single malts, which we hand-selected
for limited releases in luxury packaging. Products like these had never
been launched before and it led to a renewed interest from consumers
around the world for rare and luxury expressions of Irish single malt.”
At auction level the demand isn’t quite as high as Scotch just yet, although Jonny Fowle, Sotheby’s spirit specialist
does see the potential growth. “Irish Whiskey still remains a fairly
small category in the secondary market,” says Fowle. “This isn’t to say
that there isn’t some desirability in Irish Whiskey. Certainly, there
are some great bottles out there and some exceptional independent
bottlings, but as a secondary market category it is overshadowed by
Scotch and Japanese.”....
