Teeling Chardonnay Cask
Irish Whiskey | 46% ABV
Score: 6/10
Good stuff.
TL;DR
A typically fruity Irish experience, but might be too sweet for some
Family Drinks Dynasties
There’s not much TV, or movies, to pull me into a little binge watching these days. It seems most of the creative stories and characters have been done and all we’re presented with are reboots and sequels that no one asked for.
Instead of looping through the US version of The Office or another easy watch like the excellent Schitt’s Creek, something else caught the eye of Mrs Frasier and me. From the creator and mind of Peaky Blinders (a decent watch with the brilliant Cillian Murphy leading the way) Steven Knight (who was also one of the three people who created ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?’) brings a new story called ‘The House of Guinness’.
The synopsis reads to something akin to Succession. A historical drama set in the 19th Century; it depicts the consequences and the fate of the four children following the death of their father Benjamin Guinness (the Grandson of Guinness founder Arthur Guinness), the then Head of the Guinness brewery in Dublin. His children are left to find the will and wishes of their father, while we discover the lives, attitudes and story of each Guinness family member throughout the series.
Like many of these series’, you need to get past the first episode - it can be very stereotypical and pantomime-esque - but the legend develops as we find out more about this incredibly wealthy and infamous Irish family. The show itself is entertaining, especially for Belfast’s own Anthony Boyle’s depiction of Arthur Guinness (junior - Great Grandchild of Guinness Founder Arthur) and it’s worth a watch.
Anyway, while enjoying the show, I couldn’t help but think of other such historical and famous families and names in the drinks industry. In spirits, there are still many examples today. Glenfarclas are still family owned as well as Glenfiddich with William Grant & Sons. Heaven Hill and Jose Cuervo are huge names in their respective fields of bourbon and tequila, while Bacardi (like Guinness to Diageo) are multi-generational run but operate as the main name of a multi-brand portfolio.
Another ‘dynasty’, if we want to use that term in whisky and indeed Irish Whiskey, you can’t help thinking of are the Teeling family. It is quite surprising that Dramface has yet to review or cover any whiskey from Teeling. It probably has something to do with the various reasons we’ve covered multiple times here when it comes to Irish whiskey in general. But I have purchased and enjoyed quite a lot from Teeling, and their distillery tour in Dublin is worth the visit if you ever find yourself in the Capital.
The name itself is notable within distilling in Ireland throughout the years. You can head way back to 1782, not too long after the founding of Guinness at St. James’ Gate Brewery, to find the first distillery under the Teeling moniker. Walter Teeling established a distillery on Dublin's Marrowbone Lane in the Liberties area of Dublin. This was an epicentre of distilling dubbed the "golden triangle" due to the number of distilleries located in the area back in the 18th century. While it was eventually purchased by William Jameson & Co., it still has roots and foundations in Dublin’s whiskey distilling history.
Yet it took until the late 1980’s before we saw a return of the Teeling name to distilling in Ireland. During a time in which Irish Whiskey was monopolised by Irish Distillers Limited (IDL); a move was made to help save distilling whiskey in Ireland and reverse the decline in Irish whiskey sales at the time (IDL are now a subsidiary of the French giant Pernod Ricard). In 1987, John Teeling, after writing two related papers on the topic and having studied for his doctorate at Harvard; and despite being a life-long teetotaller, took over a disused state spirit factory that produced a potato-based alcohol. This distillery was named ‘Cooley’ after its location in the Cooley Peninsula in Ireland’s Co. Louth.
It proved something of a success and the Cooley distillery was sold to Beam Suntory for a whopping $95 million in 2012. At the time of the sale, a shrewd John Teeling had negotiated the acquisition of 16,000 Cooley Whiskey casks to keep on completion of the sale. The stock was the basis of the Teeling distillery upon creation of Teeling Whiskey in 2012 by John’s two sons Jack and Stephen.
John didn’t stop there. After Cooley, the former Harp Brewery in Dundalk was purchased by him (this was due to brewing operations carried out there being moved to St. James’s Gate Brewery). Another Teeling venture, Great Northern Distillery (GND), was then set up. To this day, it still operates as a business primarily selling to own brands or private labels and others interested in a supply of bulk whiskey; indeed, this is where a lot of Irish grain whiskey is sourced from.
Since Teeling didn’t start producing whisky from their Dublin location until 2015, I’ve always considered Teeling releases as sourced. But perhaps we can make an argument that the liquid they acquired from the Cooley sale is in fact their own and can be bottled under the Teeling name? A grey area for sure and could make for interesting debate. Anyway: as another example of just how little transparency there is in Ireland around distilling, it’s hard to know how much of that Cooley acquired liquid is still being blended with their own whiskey form their Dublin Liberties location. This is true of any grain purchased from GND.
Today, Teeling is under the control of the Bacardi group and is their only Irish Whiskey brand. This is the first time we’ve tackled a bottle at Dramface.
Review
Teeling Chardonnay Cask, Official bottling, Franz Hahn Chardonnay Wine Cask Finish, Irish Whiskey, 46% ABV
£45
Not distinctly stated on the label as ‘Single Malt’, so we can assume this as an indicator of grain present in the liquid.
This Irish Whiskey was finished for one year in casks from Franz Hahn, a winery in the Pfalz region of Germany.
These barrels had previously held Chardonnay Spätlese Trocken. This type of Chardonnay typically brings forth tasting notes such as ripe apricot and pear, roasted corn and wet hemp rope, we’re told. Let’s see if those flavours present themself here.
Score: 6/10
Good stuff.
TL;DR
A typically fruity Irish experience, but might be too sweet for some
Nose
Honey, peaches and mandarin segments. Passion fruit, mango and hints of strawberry syrup. Sugar syrup, brown sugar and cola gummy confectionery. Oat biscuits, white grapes and gooseberries. Raspberry jam and white chocolate buttons. On the nose, to me, it’s quite typical ‘Cooley’ liquid.
Palate
Immediate arrival reminds me of white wine. That grape on the nose shows itself right up front with bags of fruit sweetness too. Quite silky with a nice mouthfeel. Loads of passionfruit and mango, reminds me of a tub of Dr. Oetker yogurt. A little weighted medium finish. While this appeases my personal sweet tooth, I can imagine this might be too much for others. There’s Fruit Salad chewy sweets and raspberryade too. It does come across as a youthful spirit, with a little hint of almond butter and more orange yogurt on the finish.
The Dregs
As someone with a sweet tooth, I did enjoy this dram throughout the summer and it fit the bill for something light, sweet and inoffensive.
As mentioned before, it is typical in its ‘Irishness’ with a light, fruity and I dare say smooth character. Very fruit forward with sweetness levels that I can imagine being off putting or sickly for a lot of people. The Chardonnay aspect was indeed present here, but not too much. I don’t think it did anything to round out the youthfulness of the grain. White wine and Single Malt Cooley is often a perfect little duo, but this just falls short of the mark.
For the price, I'd happily pick this one up again. It suited me, and I found it an enjoyable whiskey: great for summer, but could be found wanting as we head into autumn and the wintery season.
Still, a decent introduction to Irish whiskey itself and doesn’t tax the brain too much when all that’s called for is a nice sipper. It’s got that nice Cooley foundation and represents a perfect pour when you eventually discover that next box set binge.
Score: 6/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. HF
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