Teeling - 26 YO Single Malt Gold Reserve - White Burgundy Finish - Tasting Notes

This Gold bottling of the Teeling 26 Year Old Irish Single Malt is limited to only 1,000 bottles and comes from a handful of casks selected for their unique quality. Distilled in 1987 and initially matured in bourbon barrels for 25 years this whiskey is given extra maturation in French white Burgundy wine casks for a further 12 months to add an extra layer of complexity. Bottled at 46%, and no chill filtration and coloring.

At the end of 2013 we had the chance to join in on a Twitter Tasting organised by the Whisky Wire where Teeling shared with us a little sample of this then yet to hit the shelves expression and was not even yet bottled. They planned to release this one in 2014 and we were very grateful to had a sneak peek then.

We didn't expect was the fruit explosion that the White Burgundy Casks released in the nose and taste. That was great. A year later we found our self's in front of the stand of Bresser & Timmer at the Whisky & Rum festival where Jock Shaw was pouring also some lovely Teeling expressions. He asked us if we wanted to have a little taste of the 26 year old. Yes of course! - we answered right away, not entirely sure if this was that one we have tasted the year before. And we were surprised when checking our earlier notes that it was! Glad we made some new additional notes at the festival, in another setting, to compare the two and see what this complex dram had more to offer. Thanks Jock for this opportunity! Lovely expression! So below a mix of my older notes and new notes... If you have a chance find this one, and let me know what you think of it, would love to hear it...

Nose
Custard, powder sugar, Turkish delight and some waxy notes. Green apple, lemon, muffins, marzipan.... oh just lovely sweet and fresh! Complex, champagne, toast, rose pedals, and almonds. Black berry, black current, dense fruitcake with chocolate sprinkles, dried apricots, and some plums, and fresh brioche. This nose just keeps changing, it is lovely complex, sweet, fruity, fresh and much more. An impressive one for sure!

Having a second nosing and tasting at this and it keeps to be very sweet with fruit, honey, vanilla, raisin, cassis, red summer fruit, green apples, sage and wine gums...

Palate
Creamy, full, rich, smooth, chocolate, mint, dried fruit, honey, and floral. Also some sweet paprika, beautiful rose honeyed flavour, strawberry and tropical notes. Then a bunch of red and black fruits pas by combined with some rich Greek yogurt... Oh my. And strangely also some gummy bears in there....

On a second taste of it I wrote down spices, some bitter, sweet and reminded me of sweet/sour sweets (zure matten). Green apple, sage, wine gums, fresh fruit, dried fruits, and more sweeter fruitier on the finish. Very sticky sweet on mouth feel after the dryness coming from some leathery feel? Some heavy fruit/dried fruit notes?

Finish
This palate is long and sweet. Filled with tropical notes and very fruity.

Score
This one gets an immediate 8 out of 10 from me. It is complex and also very different then the 21 year old from them for sure. But very very nice!

Just image that you are sitting in a beautiful garden what is fully in bloom with massive amounts of roses and other beautiful flowers, and having your self a lush french breakfast with all kind of fruits and pastries and breads. Fresh summer air is all around and it all the fresh and sweet smells make it a full bouquet in your nose. And when tasting some of those lovely filled rolls and pastries available in front of you, take your fresh brewed cup of coffee in hand and just sit back and enjoy it all...

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