Today’s Teeling Single Pot Still review follows the Redbreast 12 in my short series on entry-level Irish whiskies. Teeling’s logo, a phoenix coming back to lie from a pot still, symbolises the long tradition of the Teeling family in Irish whisky and their rebirth. Will this translate into quality? Before we get to the review let me take a quick look at the history of the Teeling family.
TL:DR: This enjoyable Irish whiskey with a grapefruit cream soda vibe
Score: 5 Average, in a good way
A distillery reborn
The Teeling family has a historical standing in the Irish whisky tradition. In 1782 William Teeling established his distillery in Dublin’s “Golden Triangle”. The original Teeling distillery was eventually sold. Teeling was purchased by the neighbouring William Jameson distillery and incorporated into its business. William Jameson, related but independent of the more famous John Jameson one, would eventually close in 1923
Over 60 years later, in 1987, John Teeling, a descendant of William, purchased a facility, which had been used to produce spirit from potatoes. This would become the Cooley distillery, in operation since 1989. The distillery was eventually sold to Beam, now Beam Suntory, in 2011.
As part of the sale, John’s sons negotiated to buy over 15000 casks of Cooley whiskey. They used this to launch Teeling Whiskey in 2012. In 2015 they opened the “reborn” Teeling distillery in Dublin. This was the first distillery to reopen in the Irish capital in over 125 year.
Teeling today produces several whiskeys. Besides their core range, which includes today’s whisky in review, the Teeling Single Pot Still, there are many limited editions, including some very unique cask-finished products. It also continues to offer some of the old Cooley spirit in its vintage collection. It is great to see Irish whiskey rebuild its reputation after years in the shadows.
Now time to see how Teeling’s interpretation of the Single Pot Still category fares…
Teeling Single Pot Still
Specs
Price paid: received as a gift, usually available for around €40
Bottled date: 05/21
ABV: 46%
Natural colour: No, but see below.
Non-chill filtered: Yes
Casks Used: American Virgin Oak, Bourbon, and Sherry casks
Tasting Notes
Colour: Bright lemon yellow. This is so much lighter than the remaining Irish whiskeys I have tried for this small series. I would be surprised if there is more than a drop of caramel colour added.
Nose: Pretty intense aromas with a bit of youthful white pepper spice. There is a very noticeable grapefruit note upfront. Behind the citrusy note, the nose develops into a sweeter character. I get cream soda, vanilla, apples, some dried red fruits (cranberries maybe) and a lot of caramel. The impact of the sherry emerges after a while: some raisins, cinnamon and nutmeg spice linger in the background.
Taste and finish: It immediately comes across as a bit young and spicy. The mouthfeel is quite rich and mouthcoating, proof triple distilled whiskies do not need to be watery. The palate is reminiscent of the nose with citrus, raisins, peaches, some porridge, muscovado sugar and a hint of baking spice.
The finish is short to medium. There are notes of peaches and grapefruit, vanilla, muscovado sugar and just a hint of drying oak tannins.
Score*: 5 Average in a good way
There is nothing wrong with a youthful whiskey, especially when it is enjoyable like this Teeling Single Pot Still. The bottle I have is from 2021, so at best 6 years, but I suspect not more than 5, so the youth is to be expected. As is finding less complexity than you would find in older drams. On the other hand, the aromatic profile and the rich mouthfeel, promise interesting future development from Teelings. Until then, I will reach out for the Teeling Single Pot Still when I am looking for a smooth easy to enjoy dram.
* Scores are based on the scoring scale used by Dramface, slightly modified to allow half-points
After writing my tasting notes, I always find it interesting to look at other opinions. Here are a few other reviews of Teeling SIngle Pot Still I enjoyed:
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