"Irish smoothness with a bit of a rough edge from this rather new Irish bottler"
(Photo from Whiskybase)
Named after the first president of Ireland in 1938 (Douglas Hyde) and bottled by one of his descendants (Connor Hyde) this new whiskey venture from West Cork comes with their first release. In about 5 years we can expect the first home-made whiskey from Hyde Distilleries, but in the meantime we can enjoy their blending capabilities, and this is the first example. This release is sourced from the casks in the vaults of Cooley Distillery. It is distilled twice and matured the first ten years in charred Kentucky Bourbon casks, after which it has been finished for 6 months in Oloroso Sherry casks.
Nose
Really smooth, directly uncovering its Irish nature. Salty bitter licorice and milk chocolate. Sounds weird but in this case a delicious combination. Covered with nicely infused fruity notes from the sherry influence. Enriched with herbal notes and fresh cut grass. Water unlocks more creaminess, more Oloroso sherry, sweet fresh vanilla, spiced peaches, floral honey, and volatile notes of mango and banana.
Taste
A mix of sweet and bitter. Sweet licorice and bitter chocolate (which are now inverted from the nose). Following with herbal and spicy notes. I can even find some bubblegum… More bitter-sweetness arrives with black currants. Water shows off an increased fruitiness with apples, bitter cherries and apricots, more cinnamon and milk chocolate, while the floral perfume notes are also toned up. Quite rich.
Overall
Nicely blended single malt. Typical Irish on one hand, but it has its own character. Irish smoothness with a bit of a rough edge, sometimes really on the edge with the close balance of sweetness and bitterness. I would call it an Irish with some Scottish influences. This was a decent start from this new bottler, now let’s see where their road leads us to. There were rumours that they were going to built their own distillery (who isn’t nowadays), but it has been rather quiet on that front since a while.
- Review 2020-043
- Single malt
- Colley Distillery
- Hyde Whiskey (Hibernia Distillers)
- 10-years-old
- Bottled in 2015
- First-fill charred Kentucky ex-bourbon (10 years) & Oloroso ex-sherry casks (6 months)
- Natural colour
- Non chill-filtered
- 46
- 5000
- ±65-70
- Still available
- Whiskybase #67592
What others say
A sample of this was kindly provided by !
Scores
• these are my personal views, so do not take them too seriously… nothing beats tasting these for yourself •
- Licorice
- Floral
- Black currants