Review: From Ireland to Tasmania – a new pot still whisky movement is brewing

Luke McCarthy -
Whisky Reviews
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On tasting: Teeling Single Pot Still, Ballykeefe Single Pot Still Single Estate, Dingle Single Pot Still Fourth Release, Transportation Whiskey ‘Flogging Molly’, Hunter Island Pot Still Whisky First Release, Greenspot Single Pot Still, Redbreast 12 Year Old Single Pot Still

So this is pretty exciting. I’m a huge fan of Irish single pot still whiskey, and it’s a real treat to look at a Tasmanian take on this iconic style next to some of Ireland’s finest.

This review is also the start of a broader outlook for Oz Whisky Review. Australian whisky is obviously our primary focus. That’s not changing, and this will always be an Australian whisky resource first and foremost. However, one of the beauties and strengths of the Australian industry is its connectedness to whisky styles and ideas from across the world.

The Tassie pot still whiskies below are a great example of what’s driving my thinking. If we just looked at these whiskies in isolation, it would be difficult to fully grasp the remarkable heritage behind single pot still: what makes the style distinctive, what gives it its identity and unique flavour profile, and where are the differences between the Irish and Australian varieties? What does all that taste like?

This also helps to paint a more detailed portrait of Australia’s role in the world whisky story over the last 150-plus years. For instance, these Tasmanian single pot still whiskies aren’t the first Irish-style ‘pure’ pot still whiskies produced in Australia.

In the 1860s, the Warrenheip Distillery near Ballarat, originally founded by Irishman Robert Dunn, produced a triple distilled pure pot still whisky from a mash of malt, oats and wheat – a common mash bill in Ireland in the early 1800s.

The Victoria Distillery in Melbourne, the original home of Victoria Bitter, also produced a triple distilled whiskey that likely contained unmalted barley in the mash. Other distilleries throughout Victoria and South Australia undoubtedly dabbled in the style in the late 1800s and early 1900s as well (more on that story soon).

Distillers from all over the world share influences and insights, just like they have done for a very long time, and that’s a story I want to start exploring more in these pages.

The reviews below hopefully show some of this transference in action. Damian and Madeleine Mackey of Hunter Island Distillery and John Halton from Transportation Whiskey have studied, travelled, tasted and experimented and brought their own spin to Ireland’s historic style (Tara Distillery on the NSW south coast will soon join them).

I did, however, labour over which Irish single pot still whiskies to include here. Ever since going on a wee whisky tour of Ireland back in 2014, I’ve been quietly obsessed with single pot still, an obsession that was further stoked when Fionnán O’Connor published his incredible book A Glass Apart a year later. Basically, my aim with this review is to give you a solid representation of what’s available, at least in this part of the world, from well established (Midleton) and newer Irish pot still producers (Teeling, Dingle, Balleykeefe) working in the style.

There’s a number of new Irish single pot still whiskies to get around these days, and plenty more on the way – an amazing development considering the style almost died out a few decades back. Now, each new single pot still that’s released opens up a window into the rich history of Irish whiskey making, and it’s brilliant to see Australian distillers adding another dimension to that story.

  • Teeling Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey
    The Stats
    • ABV: 46%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single pot still whiskey
    • Production Story: Triple-distilled at the Teeling Distillery from a mash of 50% malted and 50% unmalted barley. Matured in ex-Bourbon, sherry and virgin American oak casks. Batch: 10/2021.
    • Location: Dublin, Co. Dublin, Ireland
    • Score: 81
    Nose
    Fresh but soft. Green and herbal, vanilla, hay and linseed. Slightest hint of youth and new make, but less so compared to previous batches. The fruits come through as it opens up, green apple and lemon pith.
    Palate
    Pleasant spice and crackle upfront. The unmalted barley prickles forth with cloves, pepper and a fun herbal note. Minimal cask influence overall (virgin oak, where's that hiding?) not that I'm complaining - plenty of that to go around in Australia.
    Finish
    Vanilla, spice and cereals. Slightly youthful and spirity on the tail.
    Comments
    I've always been fascinated by the Teeling single pot still. The early batches (first released in 2018) left a lot to be desired. But there's been improvement since, and recent bottlings have shown better integration and maturity. As an $80AUD (£40), widely available single pot still, I think this is still a pretty good deal. Sure, it's not quite matching it yet with the small-scale offerings from other players and the top drops from Midleton, but it's got its best years ahead.
  • Ballykeefe Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey Single Estate
    The Stats
    • ABV: 46%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single pot still whiskey
    • Production Story: Triple-distilled at Ballykeefe Distillery from a mash of 60% unmalted barley and 40% malted barley and matured in a single ex-Bourbon cask (Cask No. 28). All the barley here was grown on-site at the family farm.
    • Location: Kilballykeefe, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland
    • Score: 84
    Nose
    Now that's a spicy pot still nose. Big cereal grain character upfront, plenty of hay and grassy barley flavours, which is no doubt the intention. An aniseed, agricultural note follows, and then something slightly metallic, although not in an unpleasant way.
    Palate
    All the spice and cereal from the nose follows through here. Creamier and oilier than expected. Again the aniseed. Very much a spirit-forward experience, the cask is just supporting here, so it's a little green and a bit youthful, but the grain really shines through, and it's been given plenty of room to express itself.
    Finish
    Tapers nicely. Not the longest, try the cask strength option for that, but still plenty of spice and cereal to get around.
    Comments
    This is confident and easy to get behind. If you're doing all that work to use grain grown on the family farm, then it makes sense to allow that cereal character to shine in the final piece. It's the opposite end of the spectrum to the cask-forward Australian style, and with a bit more maturity this will be humming. Is this closer to the farm-style pot still whiskies of old? Intriguing stuff.
  • Dingle Single Pot Still Whiskey Fourth Release
    The Stats
    • ABV: 46.3%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single pot still whiskey
    • Production Story: Triple-distilled at Dingle Distillery from a mash of roughly 50% unmalted barley and 50% malted barley. Matured in ex-Bourbon and oloroso sherry casks, with a ratio of 73% Bourbon casks to 27% oloroso. Bottled 2021. For this release, 8000 bottles released at 46.3% ABV, 500 at cask strength.
    • Location: Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland
    • Score: 83
    Nose
    Bright and cereal-forward. Green apples, apricot core, leather and pencil shavings. A touch spirity, but some creamy, nutty notes from the casks help things along.
    Palate
    More creaminess here. The green malt cuts through with a savoury, spicy drive. Macadamia turns to almonds as hints of sherry and vanilla come through.
    Finish
    Solid through here. Nice malty carry through. Traces of youth at the finish.
    Comments
    A little bit like Teeling, I wasn't blown away by Dingle's early pot still releases. But also like Teeling, there's been clear improvement batch to batch. I've always liked that spicy, savoury, agricultural note in the Dingle pot still releases, and you can see the integration between spirit and cask improving all the time.
  • Transportation Whiskey Band Series #1 Flogging Molly Tasmanian Single Pot Still Whiskey
    The Stats
    • ABV: 49.4%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single pot still whisky
    • Production Story: Triple-distilled at Hunter Island's inner-city Hobart distillery by John Halton (Transportation Whiskey founder) from a mash of 60% malted barley, 30 unmalted barley and 10% oats. Matured in small port and Bourbon casks and then finished in an ex-porter beer cask. Bottled early 2023. 90 bottles in total.
    • Location: Hobart, Tasmania
    • Score: 85
    Nose
    Immediately more wood-forward than the Irish pot stills, which was expected, but gee it's a prominent jump on the side-by-side. Treacle, marmalade, Chinese 5 spice and a hint of varnish. Old leather chair and some dusty spice as the spirit gets a word in. A few drops of water really opens up the nuance here. Rocky road chocolate and ginger biscuits.
    Palate
    Rich and creamy. Raspberries and a pleasant a cedar note. The cask is again your first point of reference, adding plenty of sweet fortified flavours. Some prickle and heat as it progresses, hints of youth and tannin, but the spirit underneath it all is delicious. A few drops of water really opened things up. The chewy, cereal spice from the green barley and the oats come through, and the porter cask influence steps up with cocoa nib and dark chocolate.
    Finish
    Long, driving finish here compared to the Irish. The porter cask/dark chocolate influence kicks in late and marries up wonderfully with the ginger crackles in the spirit.
    Comments
    A lot to unpack, and a lot to like. The bones are brilliant, and there's plenty of complexity and distinctiveness to chew on. It's very much a Tasmanian whisky: cask-forward, small cask-matured, a little youthful, incredibly limited, expensive. There's an audience for this approach, and I'd certainly recommend trying some of these whiskies, but I recognise that price and availability will be a barrier for many.
  • Hunter Island Pot Still Whisky First Release
    The Stats
    • ABV: 49%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: 85
    • Production Story: Triple-distilled in 2020 at the Mackey's Hunter Island Distillery from a mash of 65% malted barley, 30% unmalted barley and 5% oats. A marriage of 30 litre ex-port matured whisky and 30 litre ex-oloroso matured whisky was then finished in a 125 ex-Bourbon cask for this first bottling. Released February 2023. 110 bottles in total.
    • Location: Hobart, TAS
    • Score: 85
    Nose
    Lordie. Luscious, rich and even more cask-forward than the Transportation take. Really opens up with time. Toffee, salted caramel and sweet, musty fortified notes eventually soften to reveal some of the clovey, grassy spice underneath.
    Palate
    Again, super rich and luscious, but also pretty seamless. Cherries, lacquer and old cupboards. Certainly feel that hint of creamy, nutty oloroso in there, and while you get moments of gingery spice from the cereals, that's mostly overridden by fruitcake, vanilla and the silky wine flavours extracted from the casks.
    Finish
    Rich and long.
    Comments
    This is a Mackey whisky alright. Such a richly flavoured, moreish and decadent experience. My only gripe is that there's hardly any room for the mash bill to have a say through all the cask influence, and isn't that the point of pot still? I slightly preferred John Halton's 'Flogging Molly' as a result, because the spirit and the cereals were more discernible. But this shows serious polish and attention to detail, a Mackey signature, and at 2.5 years old, you're joking, right? Looking forward to the standard release Hunter Island Pot Still when it becomes available.
  • Greenspot Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey
    The Stats
    • ABV: 40%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single pot still whiskey
    • Production Story: Triple-distilled at Midleton Distillery from a mash of around 60% unmalted and 40% malted barley. For Greenspot, Midleton's unique distillate, supposedly 'mod-pot' in this case, is filled into ex-Bourbon (re-fill and first-fill) and sherry casks. Each batch is comprised of around 75% Bourbon cask to 25% sherry cask whiskies matured for between seven to ten years.
    • Location: Midleton, Ireland
    • Score: 87
    Nose
    Fragrant, grassy and surprisingly fruit-driven - peaches, green grapes and bananas. Green apple core and something herbal, almost piney. Subtle hints of oak.
    Palate
    Fresh, savoury and slightly oily. Then the clove, pepper and sweeter barley notes come through and mingle with the fruits. Spritely cereal structure despite the ABV.
    Finish
    The pot still spice lingers here. Hints of sherry and vanilla. Pulls up a little short on the ABV.
    Comments
    When I was younger, I clung faithfully to Greenspot as my go to Irish pot still (it was partly the Samuel Beckett fan in me). The spice, the fruit, that spry grassiness, it’s deceptively complex. Modern Greenspots might not have as much heft and crackle as the old bottlings from previous eras (good luck trying to get a taste of those now), but this is still a lovely drop.
  • Redbreast 12 Year Old Single Pot Still Whiskey
    The Stats
    • ABV: 40%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single pot still whiskey
    • Production Story: Triple-distilled at Midleton Distillery from a mash of around 60% unmalted and 40% malted barley. Like Greenspot, Redbreast is said to start with Midleton's 'mod pot' distillate, and each batch is comprised of ex-Bourbon and sherry cask matured whisky matured for 12+ years.
    • Location: Midleton, Ireland
    • Score: 90
    Nose
    Christmas cake, raspberries and a whiff of tobacco. Pecan pie, dark oloroso sherry notes from the cask. Molasses and ginger.
    Palate
    Creamy and palate coating, but still lively. Leathery, ginger biscuit spice humming underneath the sherry cask components. Raisins and caramel fudge, but lovely tension between the spice from the distillate and the sweetness from the casks.
    Finish
    Lingering and slightly dry, cloves and nutmeg. Longer here than the Greenspot. Great length for the ABV.
    Comments
    Stonkingly good. This is the benchmark Irish single pot still for a reason, and there's not much I can add to the praise that's been heaped on the 12 year old for a number of years. The ABV prevents this from reaching its unbridled peak, but there's the stunning cask strength expression for that. This has to be one of the best flagship, core range whiskies available today.
How We Score
Luke McCarthy
Luke McCarthy is the editor and publisher of Oz Whisky Review. An independent writer, author and drinks columnist, Luke's written about whisky and spirits for numerous Australian and international publications and is a judge at the Australian Distilled Spirits Awards. His book, The Australian Spirits Guide, the first to tackle the history and resurgence of the Australian spirits industry, was published in 2016 by Hardie Grant Books.