World Whiskey Review #18: Midleton Very Rare 2017

Distillery: Midleton Distillery

Region: Cork, Ireland

ABV: 40%

Age: NAS/Blend. Contains a blend of ex-bourbon barreled whiskeys aged from 12-32 years, a 32 year-old Midleton single grain whiskey and a, single pot still whiskey aged 26 years.

Price: I don’t know, friend of a coworker at the bar sent this over for me.

Color: 0.9, Amontillado Sherry. Non-Chill Filtered.

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Nose: Lovely bit of malt sweetness followed by a bunch of light orchard fruits (particularly apples).

Palate: On the sweeter side of things with some fresh, incredibly crisp apples and pears in the forefront. There’s a bit more malt along with some caramel before being rounded out with some vanilla and cream.

Finish: Medium-to-long, main note here is of delicious vanilla icing.

Conclusion: Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I can’t say I had planned to try this dram out but a friend of a coworker sent a pour of this over after we ran into each other at a bar and I am so thankful that he did. It is fantastic. The bottle advertises that it is “the pinnacle of Irish whisky” and while I haven’t had enough of it to say that is definitively the case, it is the clearly the best of what I’ve had by some distance. The nose really starts out well by teasing some sweetness as well as showing off some of the fruit packed in here. The palate is fantastic, and the fruity notes make you feel like you’re biting into some really fresh, crisp fruits. In the finish, that vanilla icing is wonderful to just wrap this up. And best of all? None of that weird metallic taste I’ve found in some other whiskies I’ve had that were distilled by Midleton (Redbreast, Green Spot) mucking things up. Would I buy a bottle? If I could find one, yes!

Final Score: 87.

World whiskey review #18, Irish whiskey review #5, Whisky Network Review #85

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Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.