Impression // The Teeling Brabazon Collection & The Future of Teeling
Earlier this week, I was invited to attend an online Teeling Brabazon Masterclass, led by Teeling European Brand Ambassador Chris Hayes. I was sent samples of the Brabazon series, and together we embarked on a journey of Teeling's past, present, and future. In this article, I am writing down my impressions of the three Brabazon expressions, as well as a sneak-peek at the future of Teeling through four focal points.
The Past: Inception of the Brabazon Project
In 2017, Teeling introduced the first bottling in a new series of expressions, paying “homage to the unique and distinct role that fortified wines can have on the taste of Irish whiskey". The series, therefore, was designed to experiment with a variety of forified wines such as different types of sherry (Series 1), various ports (Series 2) , and even focusing on specific sherry grapes from one distinct bodega (Series 3). Teeling wouldn't be Teeling, however, if they also didn't try to incorporate their pride of a rich distilling history into the story.With the 'Brabazon Project', Teeling is celebrating the history of one of the families which was instrumental in developing "The Liberties", the area in Dublin where the Teeling distillery is located: the Brabazons. This family of English and Anglo-Irish nobles was already involved in the development of the area as early as the mid-sixteenth century. During the 17th century, William Brabazon, 3rd Earl of Meath, obtained a royal patent to organize a "twice-weekly agricultural market", which signaled the rebirth of the dwindling economic area. It is quite possible that this was one of the reasons why Walter Teeling decided to establish his distillery in the same area. If you do some further research, you can find that the Brabazons aquired "unusual access and rights to water" when they bought the lands in this area. (Chris, if you are reading this, it seems that water keeps popping up whenever I talk about Teeling.) Further information can be found in the "Newmarket and Weavers' Square" booklet issued by the Heritage & Conservation department of the city of Dublin here.
The Present: The Brabazon Collection
As mentioned above, the Brabazon expressions, of which there are currently three, all have extra maturation on casks that previously held fortifiedwines. The Series 1 expression was matured on sherry casks, port casks were used for the Series 2, and Series 3 focuses solely on PXgrapes, as cultivated and used by one specific Bodega. Below, I'll provide you with the tasting impressions of each expression.
Brabazon Series 1
For the first expression in the Brabazon series, Teeling decided to experiment with maturation on six different sherry casks (sherry buds and hogsheads), and two different grape styles (PX and Oloroso). This whisky is a non-age statement expression, but it is safe to say that the age ranges from 10 to 17 years. Why a non-age statement? Because of the focus on flavour, rather than age. The ABV (49,5%), however, was chosen specifically to cater to whisky lovers who prefer to have single cask expressions.
On the nose, strong elements of nuts and brown sugar, with hints of dark chocolate and a sense of earthiness. Palate-wise, this whiskey keeps rolling in on the tongue, offering up waves of red berries, toffee, and some ginger and cinnamon. As a finish, some spices and a little dry element.
Brabazon Series 2
Next up was Brabazon Series 2, which was released in 2018. For this expression, maturation was done on port casks, and the casks that were selected to create the single malt included whiskeys fully matured on port casks, and whiskeys finished on port. Again, a non-age statement whiskey, between 11 and 17 years old, with the same ABV of 49,5%.
I was surprised that this whiskey was so very different from the previous expressions. The Series 2 is more subtle, refined, and feels more fresh in the mouth, specifically in the mouth lining.
On the nose, more notes of vanilla, and even crème brulée, mixed with scents of berries. On the palate, almost like a warm compote of strawberries, apples, and pears. I think this whiskey would go well with a simple serving of vanilla ice-cream and, of course, the aforementioned compote. I have ideas for food pairing now. Chris mentioned that some people describe this expression as 'leaning close to porridge'. Sadly, I did not have enough of the liquid left to try and look for this.
Brabazon Series 3
Finally, we tasted the most recent release: Brabazon Series 3, currently sold-out in Belgium, but soon back in stock. It is the first expression in the series that has an agestatement (14y/o), and that has only one specific cask type linked to it.Teeling is forging ahead with their cask experiments, and has created a very distinct expression, which was double matured, first on bourbon casks (11 years), and then on specific Pedro Ximénez Sherry casks (3 years), from a family-owned bodega in Jerez. With a limitation of only 10,000 bottles, I'm sure this bottle will be in demand for years to come.
On the nose, I had overwhelming floral notes, sugary-sweet, as if you are sticking your nose in a bouquet (not bucket) of freshly cut flowers. Supposedly, there are also notes of apples, nuts, and even raisins to be found, but I only had the flowers. On the palate, dark chocolate, pears, and even figs. Heavy influence of the PX sherry casks, followed by a dry finish that still tastes rather sugary. A true flavour bomb.
The Future: Teeling's plans for the next 5 years
Throughout the tasting session, Chris was very open towards questions, and even shared plenty of information regarding 'things to come' during the next five years.
Naturally, I inquired about Series 4, which is in development, but nothing has been set in stone regarding cask types, maturation, or age statements. However, we did get plenty of information about the focal points of the distillery: cask maturation, speciality malts, the cultivation of their own yeasts, and experimenting with double and triple distillation.
Cask Maturation
Given the less-strict whiskey laws in comparison with Scotland, Irish distillers are allowed to use a larger variety of wood for cask selection. Teeling is moving forward with cask experimentation by using various locally-sourced wood for their casks. Some of them include Mahogany, Ash, Beech, Douglas Fir, and even Walnut. I'm curious what the wood-wizards at Teeling can conjure up!
Speciality Malts
Besides wood, Alex Chasko, master distiller and master brewer, is also looking into specific malts that are either roasted or stewed. Given that speciality malts are already wide-spread in the brewing industry, it is only logical that distilleries start experimenting as well.
For those of you who are interested, Teeling is looking into the following malt types: chocolate malt, distillers malt, black malt, peatedmalt, and crystal malt. No. MALT. This would be the next big step in making the malts their own, as the distillery is already using 100% Irish home-grown barley from MCI (Malting Company of Ireland).
Cultivation of Yeasts
Not only various malts are being explored, Teeling is also looking into experimenting with cultivation their own yeasts, which they then can use in a variety of expressions. Special attention already goes to fermentation, however.
By using open-top wooden fermenters, Teeling is hoping to bring even more flavour into the mix from the first steps of distillation.
Double & Triple Distillation
Speaking of distillation, the distillery is moving away from the trope that 'Irish whiskey is always triple distilled'. Instead, they are experimenting with differentcuts and using both double and triple distillation. They are even realising a triple distilled peated single malt (YAY!), which makes me want to time-skip to the day of release!
With an excellent track record and a dilligent approach to distilling, Teeling is probably going to grow even bigger in the years to come. With experiments on multiple levels, during multiple steps of whiskey production, I'm fairly certain we'll be able to enjoy a variety of distinct and delicious products, all made in 'the Liberties', Dublin.
Also, Teeling celebrated their 5th anniversary since their rebirth. Happy birthday, Teeling. Here's to many more years!
