Glendalough Distillery sits in the Wicklow Mountains south of Dublin, founded in 2011 by five friends who wanted to revive a craft tradition in a county that had lost its distilling heritage. Double Barrel is one of their flagship expressions — a single grain whiskey aged first in ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in Spanish oloroso sherry casks, hence the name.
The grain spirit gives it that lighter, sweeter Irish character — easy and approachable, the kind of dram that doesn't demand much of a newcomer. The bourbon ageing lays down a vanilla and caramel foundation, and the oloroso finish brings the dried fruit and nuttiness that sherry casks do so reliably well. Bottled at 42% ABV, it sits in the comfortable middle ground that makes it an honest everyday pour rather than a special-occasion bottle.
What Double Barrel does well is balance. Neither cask dominates the other, and the whiskey never tips into either cloying sweetness or overworked oak. It is the kind of whiskey you can pour on a Tuesday without ceremony — soft enough for new drinkers, layered enough to keep more experienced ones interested for at least a couple of glasses.
It will not change anyone's life. But for the price, and for the quiet confidence it carries, it is one of the more dependable young Irish whiskeys on the shelf, and a fair introduction to what Glendalough is building in the Wicklow hills.
A whiskey for the long Sunday afternoon, the slow conversation, the second pour you didn't quite plan on.
