Two Stacks is one of those Irish whiskey operations that caught my attention a few years back — a bonded outfit out of County Down that's been doing genuinely interesting things with blending and cask selection. Their Pillars of Creation 2025 release is a blended Irish whiskey bottled at a hefty 57% ABV, and at £110 it sits in that territory where you're paying for craft and conviction rather than an age statement. NAS releases always demand trust in the blender, and Two Stacks have earned enough of mine to make this a compelling buy.
What strikes me first about this whiskey is the ambition. Bottling a blended Irish at cask strength is still relatively uncommon — most producers play it safe with their blends, dialling things down to 40% and smoothing out any edges. Two Stacks have gone the opposite direction here. At 57%, you're getting the full expression of whatever casks went into this, uncut and unfiltered. That takes confidence in your liquid, and I respect the decision. For a blended whiskey, this kind of bottling strength means you can explore it with water and watch it open up, or take it neat if you want the full impact.
Tasting Notes
I won't fabricate specific notes that aren't confirmed — what I can tell you is that at this proof and with Two Stacks' known approach to multi-cask blending, you should expect a whiskey with serious weight and complexity. Irish blends at cask strength tend to retain that characteristic pot still spice alongside grain sweetness, but with far more texture and intensity than you'd find at standard bottling strength. A few drops of water will be your friend here. Let it sit in the glass for five minutes before you even think about nosing it — that ABV needs a moment to settle.
The Verdict
At 8.2 out of 10, this is a whiskey I'd happily recommend to anyone looking to explore what modern Irish whiskey can be. The price point of £110 is fair for a cask-strength release from an independent operation — you're not paying for a massive marketing budget here, you're paying for the liquid. Two Stacks have built a reputation on doing things differently, and the Pillars of Creation name suggests they see this as a flagship statement. For context, plenty of standard-strength Irish blends from bigger houses sit north of £80 these days, so the value per proof point is actually solid. Where it loses a fraction of a mark for me is the NAS designation — I'd love to know more about what's in the blend, and transparency would push this into the nines. But on its own merits, this is a seriously well-made whiskey that punches above its weight class.
Best Served
My recommendation: try this in a Whiskey Sour first. I know that sounds counterintuitive with a £110 bottle, but hear me out — cask-strength Irish whiskey holds up beautifully against citrus and egg white without disappearing the way a 40% blend would. Use 50ml, fresh lemon juice, a touch of simple syrup, and a dry shake before adding ice. The proof carries the whiskey flavour right through the cocktail. Once you've had that experience, come back to it neat with a few drops of water and explore it on its own terms. For a straightforward serve, this also works brilliantly with a single large ice cube — the slow dilution as the ice melts gives you a constantly evolving glass over twenty minutes. Whatever you do, don't rush this one.
