There are bottles you buy to drink, and there are bottles you buy because they represent a moment — a particular year, a particular hand at the helm, a particular convergence of casks that will never be repeated. Midleton Very Rare, bottled in 2014, is squarely the latter. At £1,500, this isn't an impulse purchase. It's a statement of intent: you believe Irish whiskey, at its finest, belongs in the same conversation as the most celebrated spirits on earth.
The Midleton Very Rare series has always operated on a simple but ambitious premise. Each year, the Master Distiller selects from the distillery's vast inventory of pot still and grain whiskeys, blending them into a single expression that captures what they consider the best of what Midleton has to offer. No age statement. No cask breakdown on the label. Just the year of bottling and the implicit promise that this is the pinnacle. The 2014 bottling sits in the middle of what collectors now regard as the golden run of the series — a period when secondary market prices began climbing sharply and the world started paying serious attention to premium Irish whiskey.
What to Expect
At 40% ABV, this is bottled at the standard strength Midleton Very Rare has maintained throughout its history. Some will argue that a whiskey at this price point deserves cask strength treatment, and I understand the impulse. But there's a philosophy at work here — one that prizes accessibility and balance over brute intensity. This is blended Irish whiskey in its most polished form: pot still character married with lighter grain components, designed to be seamless rather than challenging. The style leans toward elegance. Think silk, not tweed. If you've spent time with other expressions from the Midleton stable, you'll recognise the house DNA — that characteristic smoothness that Irish whiskey built its modern reputation on, but with considerably more depth and complexity than anything at the entry level.
The 2014 bottling has become increasingly sought after on the collector circuit, and bottles in good condition with original packaging now command a premium well above their original retail price. Whether that makes it a sound investment or an expensive indulgence depends entirely on your reasons for buying it.
The Verdict
I'll be honest: scoring a bottle like this feels slightly absurd. You're not buying Midleton Very Rare 2014 because a critic gave it a number. You're buying it because you want to own a piece of Irish whiskey history, or because you want to taste what the Master Distiller considered their finest work that year. On its own merits, this is a refined, accomplished blended Irish whiskey that delivers on the promise of the series — quiet authority rather than fireworks. At 7.9 out of 10, it earns its place among the better expressions in the Very Rare lineage, though the price will inevitably colour your experience. If you can afford it without wincing, it's genuinely worth the occasion. If £1,500 represents a significant stretch, there are extraordinary Irish whiskeys to be had for a fraction of the cost. Context matters.
Best Served
Neat, in a Glencairn or a thin-walled tulip glass, at room temperature. Give it fifteen minutes after pouring before you take your first proper nosing — a whiskey of this calibre needs time to open and settle. No ice, no water on the first pour. If you want to add a few drops of water on a subsequent tasting, by all means, but let it speak for itself first. This is a fireside whiskey — late evening, good company optional, silence perfectly acceptable.
