Midleton Dair Ghaelach: Grinsell’s Forest (Tree 3)

The Midleton Dair Ghaelach range is a unique adventure for Irish whiskey. The whiskey masters at Midleton for the first time wanted to give virgin Irish oak a chance, specially selecting 10 150-year old Irish Oak (Quercus robur) trees from the sustainably managed Grinsell’s Wood in Co. Kilkenny. Of course to give the experiment a proper opportunity at joining the pantheon of great Irish whiskeys the fill had to be of great quality itself. Thus, single pot stills were chosen which had been aged for between 15 and 22 years.

The results were outstanding, with both Jim Murray and Whisky Advocate naming it as their Irish whiskey of the year. Each release is clearly named and traceable back to the individual tree that made its hogshead, with each tree delivering around 1,000 bottles.

As each different tree resulted in differences in taste. The expected vanilla and woodland fragrances of the Irish Oak are obvious, while the Midleton Dair Ghaelach Tree 3 is also notable for its mellow spiciness along with dairy fudge, milk chocolate and stewed apple.