Teeling Small Batch

Teeling certainly need to be applauded, regardless of the Whiskey, of how they managed to glide themselves into the Irish Whiskey market.

I know non Whisky drinkers have this on their shelves. Bars have this on their shelves. Supermarkets have this on their shelves. In the grand scheme of everything Teeling is a new fish especially sitting beside Jameson but they have given themselves the golden label of premium look with great value cost.

Experience

Lets start with the biggest issue… black glass bottle where you cannot see the liquid, this is a big no no for me! I like a recycled glass bottle that has a slight haze and even happy with a dark green like Ardbeg where you can still see the fill level, but fully opaque, no thank you.

The branding both looks like it could fit in on a leather biker jacket as well as a packed hipster speakeasy, which I think has allowed it to carve it’s place. The table of information is brilliant at the bottom of the label but it is a shame that it has caramel colouring added to the light straw colour.

Nose

The nose is surprisingly heavy to begin with a thick conconscion of ethanol, green grapes and caramel. Quite far away from those “classic Irish” notes, it could be the rum finish giving it that extra heft. After a while it becomes much more grainy with a good slice of banana chucked in there.

Taste

The first sip there was a quite a punch of ethanol and alcohol burn that fortunately was quickly put out with vanilla cream. The sweet rum brown sugar note is the strong base layer that flows through every sip which occasionally takes over the tongue. The added warmth throws my mind back to drinking Captain Morgans Spiced Rum from a warm hip flask at a Music Festival.

Briefly other flavours rise above the rum soaked water including an allusive foamy banana bringing a lovely extra texture on the tongue.

After a few seconds the Whiskey fades away leaving a woody spice dancing on the roof of the mouth.

Value for Money

Now this is where this bottle shines, I dare to call it cheap and I further dare to call it good value. Now I managed to wrangle it on a deal at £25 back in May 2020 but now it has slightly creeped up with the average price being about £32. Of course that sounds a bit step up from Jamesons at £18 or Proper 12 at £22 but this towers over them in terms of quality and often appears on offer for £28.