There are bottles you drink and bottles you hold. The Midleton Very Rare 2006 bottling is, increasingly, both — a release from Ireland's most prestigious annual series that has quietly crossed the threshold from fine whiskey into genuine collectible. At £1,250, you're paying for scarcity as much as liquid, and I think that's a fair bargain.
Midleton Very Rare has operated on a simple but effective premise since the series launched in 1984: each year, the master blender selects a small number of casks — pot still and grain — and assembles something that captures the house character at its most refined. The 2006 edition sits in a particularly interesting window. It predates the global Irish whiskey boom that would reshape the category entirely, which means it was blended for drinkers, not investors. That distinction matters.
At 40% ABV and carrying no age statement, the spec sheet is modest. Don't let it fool you. The Very Rare series has never chased cask strength fashion or age statement one-upmanship. It aims for poise, and the 2006 bottling carries itself with the quiet confidence of something that knows exactly what it is. This is blended Irish whiskey in its most composed form — the kind of dram that rewards patience and attention rather than demanding them.
Tasting Notes
I won't fabricate specifics where memory and the bottle's age make precision dishonest. What I can say is that the Midleton Very Rare range consistently delivers a signature style: the interplay between rich pot still spice and the silky elegance of well-aged grain. The 2006 edition, having spent nearly two decades in glass since bottling, will have settled into itself in ways that fresher releases haven't yet earned. Expect the hallmarks of the series — a certain honeyed warmth, measured complexity, an unhurried finish — expressed through the lens of time.
The Verdict
An 8.1 out of 10 feels right for this bottle. It loses a fraction for the conservative ABV — even a bump to 43% would have given the blend more room to speak — and the price will rightly give pause to anyone buying purely to drink. But as a piece of Irish whiskey history from a series that has defined what premium Irish can be, the 2006 bottling earns its place. It represents a moment before the category's explosion, crafted with care rather than hype. For collectors who also drink their whiskey, that combination is increasingly rare.
Best Served
Neat, in a tulip glass, after dinner. Give it twenty minutes to open — this is whiskey that was bottled two decades ago and deserves the courtesy of breathing. A single drop of water if you wish, but no more. The room should be quiet. The company should be good. If you're somewhere along the south coast of Ireland and the evening light is doing that thing it does in late autumn — golden, impossibly long — so much the better. But a good armchair and an unhurried evening will do the job anywhere in the world.
