Tasting Notes
Teeling 30 Years Old (2021)
A Soliloquy in Sherry, Oak, and Time
To taste this whiskey is to reach back across a pivotal chapter of Irish distilling history. A time when pot stills were sparse, and bold visionaries laid down spirit with little certainty of what the future held. That future, it turns out, included a renaissance - and this bottle is its elder voice.
The nose is complex, layered, and impossibly refined. At first: dried apricots, fig compote, and tangerine oil. Then comes the deeper melody: dark chocolate shavings, antique leather, and the unmistakable richness of PX cask sugars - medjool dates, sultanas, and molasses cake. Yet it's not cloying. There's restraint - the kind only time can teach.
On the palate, the texture is everything: velvet and weight, like silk draped over mahogany. Flavours unfold slowly - poached pear, walnut oil, marzipan, and the kind of sherry-soaked fruitcake that's been aged as long as the whisky itself. The oak is stately, never domineering. There's a trace of cigar box, polished teak, and a whisper of tobacco warmth, followed by a gentle lift of orange blossom and creme brulee.
The finish is long, noble, and serene - spiced marmalade, old sandalwood, and the soft, ghostly echo of raisin syrup and malt toffee. It lingers like the last light in a cathedral, slow and sacred.
The Grace of Great Age
What makes this expression remarkable is not just the age on the label, but the maturity in the glass. Many whiskies aged beyond 25 years begin to fray, drying out under the dominance of oak. Not so here. The spirit has held its core - bright, aromatic, classically Irish - while absorbing the gifts of time and cask with grace, not gravity.
This is not a dram to deconstruct - it is one to surrender to.
Final Thought
Teeling 30 Years Old (2021) is more than a luxury. It is a reminder - that Ireland, too, can produce old malts of profound depth and poise. That the Teeling name belongs not only to the future of Irish whiskey, but to its enduring heart.
It's not just a bottle.
It's three decades of quiet evolution, finally allowed to speak.
Tasting Profile
- Light
- Full
- Sweet
- Dry
- Smooth
- Complex
- Delicate
- Full Flavoured
Classification: Spirits
Variety: Whisky
Vintage: None
Bottle Size: 700ml
Country: Ireland
Region: Dublin, Newmarket
Alcohol %: 46.0%
Cellaring: Ready, but will Keep