Tyrconnell takes its name from a legendary racehorse whose 1876 win at a hundred-to-one odds became the emblem of the original Watt distillery in Derry. Revived by Cooley Distillery in County Louth, the brand today is one of Ireland's most respected double-distilled single malts, and this 10 Year Old Sherry Finish is a small masterclass in restrained cask work.
Matured for a decade in ex-bourbon casks before a finishing period in Oloroso sherry wood, the whiskey is bottled at 46% ABV and — importantly — without chill-filtration, preserving a texture and depth that lighter Irish malts often sacrifice. The nose is immediately generous: baked apple, raisin, honey and toasted almond, with the Oloroso layering walnut, brown sugar and a faint lift of orange peel.
On the palate it's creamy and sherried, with dried fruit, toffee and malt biscuit meeting a gentle nuttiness borrowed from the finishing cask. Crucially, the bourbon-wood vanilla still shows through — the Oloroso decorates rather than dominates. The non-chillfiltered texture gives the whiskey a weight that makes the flavours sit longer on the tongue, revealing the Cooley malt character beneath the wine-wood sweetness.
The finish is long and warming, lingering sherry fruit meeting oak and a soft malty sweetness. At this price point, with this age statement, this strength and this level of cask integration, Tyrconnell 10 Sherry Finish is one of the quiet bargains of the Irish category — a thoughtful bottle from a distillery that has always preferred substance to spectacle.
