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Release Notes
After ten years spent in bourbon barrels, The Tyrconnell® Sherry Cask Finish spends an additional 6-8 months in Oloroso Sherry casks from Spain. The casks exert their influence on the whiskey, creating a noticeably darker finished product. The interaction of single malt and fortified wine casks creates a veritable dessert in a glass, in which thick notes of sherry find themselves melding amongst hints of tarte tatin and custard.
Tyrconnell
The Brand: The Tyrconnell
| Established: 1762 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: |
| → website |
The Tyrconnell was, before prohibition, on of the biggest selling whiskey brands in the US. Pre-prohibition photos of Yankee stadium in New York show Tyrconnell billboards in positions of prominence at the venue. Tyrconnell and Andrew A Watts enjoyed great success in the export sector. Sales in England, Canada, Australia, Nigeria, The West Indies and the US put Derry on the commercial map of the world. By the turn of the century Watt amalgamated his interest with two other Belfast distilleries to form United Distillers Company. Things worked perfectly leveraging on their economies of scale until conflict arose between UDC and Scottish giants DCL based in Edinburgh. This was the beginning of the end for the huge Derry operation and Andrew Watt was forced to close the doors in 1925. The brands remained dormant till 1988 when Cooley Distillery acquired this old brand and went on its way to bringing this historical Irish whiskey brand back to life.
Andrew A. Watt"s distillery dates back to the glory whiskey days in Co. Derry in the North of Ireland. Derry"s suitability for whiskey production on a major scale due to copious supplies of good clean water, excellent supplies of local barely and the Derry mills to grind malt left it put her in an advantageous position. Originally from Ramelton in Co. Donegal the Watt family first settled in Derry in 1762.
The Watt influence in Derry became substantial in 1839 when wine and spirit merchant Andrew A Watt bought the Waterside Distillery located in the Abbey Street area. One of the most significant decisions taken was to install the Coffey still, which was personally installed under Aeneas Coffey"s supervision. It proved to be a shrewd move as before long Abbey Street was the largest distillery on the island, capable of producing 2,000,000 gallons of whiskey a year. The firm focus on three main brands with Tyrconnell being their flagship brand.
In the Northwest of Ireland lies an ancient Gaelic kingdom called Tyrconnell when translated from Gaelic means "The Land of O"Donnell". The O"Donnell"s were one of the most powerful Gaelic noble families right up to colonisation and reined the ancient kingdom, which is now County Donegal, until 1701. The territory is famous for its distilling tradition. One of the oldest distilleries in the region established in 1762 and reputed to be the first distillery in the world to install a patent still was Andrew A. Watt Distillery. The Watt"s flagship brand was the world famous "The Tyrconnell" Pure Pot Still Single Malt Irish Whiskey.
In 1876 the Watt family entered a horse, a Chestnut Colt, appropriately named "The Tyrconnell" in the Irish Classic horse race "The National Produce Stakes". Incredibly it won at 100 to 1. This spectacular achievement inspired the Watt Distillery to celebrate the occasion with a special commemorative Tyrconnell label, which remains to this day.
The Watts distillery dates back to 1762 and had a proud tradition of producing good whiskies. Tyrconnell was their flagship brand which was a best seller in the United States before Prohibition and is named after a very successful racehorse owned by the Watt family. This historic whiskey brand has been kept alive by Cooley Distillery the only independent distillery in Ireland who has maintained Tyrconnell reputation as shown by its recent Gold Medal win at the 2004 International Wine & Spirits Competition . The Tyrconnell has been embraced by whiskey lovers around the world (including the US again) and is the fastest growing Irish Single Malt.
from TyrconnellWhiskey.com
The Distillery: Cooley Distillery
| Established: 1987 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Cooley Distillery, Riverstown, Cooley, Co. Louth, Ireland |
| → website |
What makes Cooley"s whiskey distillery distinctive is their use of small copper pot stills with very large necks. These cause the spirits to take 50 percent longer to pass through, and the distillers believe that the result is a more refined product. In addition, many Cooley brand whiskeys are distilled only twice as opposed to the more common Irish method of distilling the spirits three times. This gives Cooley"s products much more flavor than most Irish whiskeys. The whiskeys are matured in the 200 year old granite warehouses of Kilbeggan Distillery located in County Westmeath, some 60 miles away.
Cooley produces malt, grain, and blended whiskeys, as well as producing whiskey"s for other companies to brand, market and sell.
The distillery uses only Irish barley and has its own spring water source coming from the Sliabh na Gloch river high up in the Cooley Mountains.
The distillery produces Kilbeggan and Lockes whiskeys, as well as Connemara single malt, Ireland"s only peated single malt whiskey, Tyrconnell single malt and Greenore, Ireland"s oldest single grain whiskey. Other products include Michael Collins single malt, and a Michael Collins blended version. Cooley is the distillery that produces Origine Irish Whiskey sold in the US at Albertson Supermarkets.
Cooley Distillery is the only independent, Irish-owned whiskey distillery in Ireland, converted in 1987 from an older industrial potato ethanol plant by John Teeling. The Distillery is located on the Cooley Peninsula in County Louth on Ireland"s east coast.
Trivia:
- Cooley"s products have won over 100 awards in the past ten years, including gold medals at all the top spirit competitions.
- Cooley was the first Irish distillery awarded for outstanding contribution to the spirits industry in the International Wine and Spirit Competition.
from Wikipedia