Guest Curated - Flight Number 3 - Laurie O'Dwyer aka 'Whiskey Chats'
So a little while back I started asking some people to curate some Tasting Flights. They have been very popular and I have received some great feedback on the flights chosen. The latest installment of this concept is being brought to you by Laurie O'Dwyer of the 'Whiskey Chats Podcast' fame. This came about recently when Laurie invited me on the Podcast to discuss all things Tiny Tipple. I wanted to reciprocate and said who better to ask to curate our latest guest flight than himself. Although we did discuss Poitín on the night, I did not influence his choices in any way. Laurie got back to me with a brilliant peated tasting flight showcasing some of the brilliant peated whiskies that are on the market nowadays. For anyone who is remotely interested in Irish whiskey, I would highly recommend listening in to 'Whiskey Chats'.
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/whiskey-chats/id1501711916
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ROUjXy1EgYxrwn03WtEbL
Now, for Laurie to introduce his 'A Whisp of Smoke Tasting Flight'
'My name is Laurie O'Dwyer and I have a podcast called Whiskey Chats. I started the podcast to learn as much as I could about whiskey and fine spirits from distillers, publicans, enthusiasts, maltsters, bloggers and entrepreneurs like Ivor O'Loughlin, I have watched Ivor grow Tiny Tipples into a thriving little business. I asked him onto the podcast to find out more about Tiny Tipples and he honoured me by asking me to host a flight on Tiny Tipples. I have watched with fascination the growth of peated Irish whiskey and I want to big-up the resurgence of smoke with this tasty flight. From the modern peated original, Connemara, to the new boys on the scene, each adds to the rich diversity of choice in Irish whiskey. I hope to see the same momentum gather behind a future peated poitín release, but until that happens, I hope you enjoy my selection of some of the best of Irish peated whiskeys on the market today.
Laurie'
THE LEGENDARY RED SILKIE - PEATED BLEND - RIOJA INFLUENCE - 46% ABV
The Legendary Red Silkie Irish Whiskey not only draws inspiration from the folklore of Donegal, but of the rich history and heritage of the county. The Legendary Red Silkie has been finished in Rioja and Ribera red wine casks, the Ribera del Duero wine region lies just to the east of the final resting place of Red Hugh O’Donnell at the Castle of Simancas in Spain. Wines from the Ribera region tend to be full bodied with firm tannins while Rioja wines lead with big fruit flavours. This combination of wine cask finishes gives the whiskey extraordinary depth of character, matched with the signature softness of the award-winning Silkie blend.
TWO STACKS - SMOKE AND MIRRORS - PEATED STOUT SINGLE MALT - 48%
Smoke & Mirrors Peated Stout Cask Single Malt is like no other. An interesting combination consisting of 10% double malt and 30% triple peated malt, both matured in ex-bourbon, 60% triple distilled malt aged in ex bourbon and ex imperial stout casks. The result is a soft, rich whiskey with sweet notes of smoked chocolate. Colour free and non-chill filtered
WD O'CONNELL - BILL PHIL - PEATED SINGLE MALT - 47.5% ABV
The Bill Phil Batch 02 47.58% ABV is a triple-distilled peated single malt Irish whiskey, which has been aged exclusively in first-fill bourbon barrels. Limited to 504 70cl Bottles. This is the second vatting from the Bill Phil range. Bill Phil Batch 02 peated single Malt Irish whiskey is triple distilled at the Great Northern Distillery in Dundalk.
On the nose it is distinctly peated with fresh charcoal, revealing a sharp contrast on the palate with a creamy texture. Rich malt and citrus fruit flavours coming through with a delicate smokey mellow finish.
CONNEMARA - PEATED SINGLE MALT - 40% ABV
The standard expression of this trail blazing Irish Peated Single Malt. An aroma of sweet barley with wafts of peaty smoke, kippers and well baked apple crumble. Tastes of lightly honey sweet, subdued clean rather than sooty smoke with peaty vegetal notes, sweet barley water, light spice and vanilla oak.
THE LEGENDARY DARK SILKIE - CASK STRENGTH - PEATED BLEND - 64.5% ABV
The Dark Silkie is a peated Irish whiskey blend bottled at 64.5% ABV and limited to just 210 individually numbered bottles. Peated certainly seems to be one of the latest trends in Irish whiskey, a throwback to the times when a large proportion of Irish whiskey would have had an element of peatiness. Combine that with the other emerging trend of higher ABV and cask strength releases, this turned out to be a winning combination.
This peated flight is an absolute cracker. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Laurie for having me on the podcast and also taking the time to curate this flight. You can purchase this amazing flight right here!
As always, please drop me a line if there is any Tiny Tipple related queries you may have. We do a lot of corporate gifting so if that is something you you are interested in please let us know. For all our other great tasting flights, click here.
Sláinte,
Ivor.
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