Having achieved €35,000 for a bottle of very rare 45-year-old Irish whiskey, last year, Jameson parent Irish Distillers is now hoping to go one better with an even more expensive whiskey
The asking price for the second release in its Midleton Very Rare Silent Distillery Collection is €40,000, which makes it one of the most expensive Irish whiskies to ever go on sale.
The collection is believed to be the State’s oldest with six releases planned between 2020 and 2025, ranging in age from 45 to 50 years old.
The release is described as “an exceptional 46-year-old single-pot-still Irish whiskey” distilled in the signature style of the Midleton distillery in Co Cork, which closed in 1975.
Created and matured under the guardianship of four master distillers, there are just 70 bottles available.
The whiskey was initially filled into a selection of sherry and bourbon casks under the guidance of Max Crockett and left undisturbed for more than 20 years, It was then married and recasked into refill bourbon casks under the guardianship of his son Barry Crockett and left alone again for a number of years. More recently it was recasked into newly-arrived port pipes before finally resting in a refill bourbon cask under the stewardship of distillers Brian Nation and Kevin O'Gorman.
“Like the distillate itself, the maturation journey of this whiskey is both complex and rare. The craft of recasking requires incredible attention to detail and constant sensory assessment. When managed successfully it can produce an exquisite whiskey of great complexity. The benefits of the recasking process are evident in the remarkable vibrancy of this ultra-aged Irish whiskey,” said Mr O’Gorman.
The whiskey been decanted into hand-blown and etched crystal decanter bottles, produced by Waterford Crystal, with each of the bottles individually numbered. The bottle comes displayed in a bespoke wooden cabinet handcrafted by Irish designer John Galvin, using wood up to 200 years old from reclaimed oak whiskey vats in addition to ancient elm and rare Japanese tamo ash.
