Teeling’s Single Grain whiskey is one of only a handful of single grain bottlings in the world. It uses a completely unique maturation process fully maturing the whiskey in Californian red wine barrels. The whiskey is made by combining unique ingredients with corn dominating. Then modern column distillation is used to produce the whiskey, which is exceptionally clean and smooth with a touch of sweetness. Our man Jack Teeling, founder of the Teeling Whiskey Company, told us that, “It’s a little known fact that the majority of Irish whiskey sold is actually Grain whiskey so we feel it is interesting to have expressions of Single Grain whiskey in its own right. Our new Teeling Single Grain is representative of our aim to help drive the expansion of the Irish whiskey category through unique bottlings and expressions.” The new whiskey was awarded World’s Best Grain Whiskey at the World Whiskies Awards for 2014.
Tasting Notes
There is a strong spice at the start, evolving into rich red berries, fruit and tannin on the finish. Finish: Dry finish dominated by wood and spice
The depth of character in Teeling Single Grain is from the maturation in the California Cabernet Sauvignon barrels. This creates the deep amber color and contributes to the spicy notes and lush red berry and grape flavors.
Like all Teeling whiskeys it is bottled at 46% (is that supposed to be 46 degrees?)with no chill filtration, thus allowing all the natural flavors of the whiskey to be retained.
Right this way to purchase your very own Single Grain.
The Tipperary
We asked Kevin Hurley, Teeling’s Global Brand Ambassador to provide us with a little something he likes to make with Teeling’s Single Grain:
The Tipperary
50ml Teeling
Single Grain
20ml Sweet Vermouth (Carpano Antica, Dolin or similar)
10ml Green Chartreuse
2 dash Peychauds bitters
To Prepare the Drink
Add all ingredients to mixing glass with ice and stir until required dilution is achieved
Strain into a chilled small coupe or Nick and Nora style glass (5oz size)
Garnish with an expressed lemon peel
The History of the Cocktail
The Tipperary is an old pre-prohibition cocktail that first started to appear in cocktail books around the early years of the last century. There are two variations listed in the Savoy Cocktail Book: one that is similar to the drink we know today but with all ingredients in equal parts. The second version is really strange, being an amalgamation of orange juice, grenadine, French vermouth, dry gin and green mint. A recipe for the cocktail can be originally found in a book by Hugo R. Ensslin, in his 1916 book Recipes for Mixed Drinks, as well as in Harry McElhone’s 1922 text, ABC of Mixing Cocktails.
The drink is a variation on another classic cocktail called the Bijou, which shares similar ingredients but replaces Irish whiskey with gin. For a modern palate we change the proportions from those in the Savoy Cocktail book to make it more whiskey led and include a couple of dashes of cocktail bitters. The cocktail is inextricably linked to the classic 1912 song ‘It’s a long way to Tipperary’; however, according to Albert Stevens Crockett in the Old Waldorf Astoria Bar Book the song is predated by the cocktail. Regardless, the song is still linked with the cocktail thanks to the shared name. Concerning the song, it was written by Jack Judge in 1912.
Outside of that, we know that Judge was the offspring of Irish parents, and that John McCormack helped contribute to the song’s worldwide popularity by recording it in 1914. Rumor has it that it was created for a five shilling bet, and was performed at a concert hall the night after it was produced. Reports say that the song was sung during the First World War by an Irish regiment, where it was adopted by other regiments shortly thereafter.
