When Teeling released their Single Pot Still in 2018, it carried a particular weight: it was the first pot still whiskey distilled in Dublin in nearly fifty years, since the closure of John's Lane in 1976. For a style that is genuinely, legally, geographically Irish — defined by its mash of malted and unmalted barley — that absence from the capital had been a quiet wound. This bottle stitched it shut.
The recipe is a 50/50 split of malted and unmalted barley, the unmalted portion delivering the spicy, oily, slightly green character that defines the style. It is matured in a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-wine casks — Teeling's house signature — and bottled at 46% ABV, non-chill-filtered, with no colouring added.
What makes pot still whiskey distinct is hard to describe until you taste it. There is a viscosity, a chewiness, a peppery rumble that single malt simply does not produce. Teeling's version leans into all of that without overdoing it; the wine cask softens the rougher edges without smothering the spice, and the bourbon barrels keep the vanilla framework familiar enough for newcomers.
This is not the polished, slightly austere pot still of older houses. It is younger, brighter, more wine-accented — a Dublin reimagining rather than a museum piece. Some traditionalists will prefer the older guard, but Teeling's contribution is to make the style feel current again, and at this price it is a genuinely characterful pour.
A whiskey that tastes like a city remembering how to do something it nearly forgot.
