Whisky: Midleton “Method and Madness” Single Pot Still

Country/Region: Ireland

ABV: 46%

Cask: Sherry, Bourbon, French Chestnut Finish

Nose: Dried fruits and sweet, creamy condensed milk, vanilla, subtle coconut and star anise, toffee blondie bars, light brown sugar, more sweet creamy tres leches cake.

Palate: Medium-bodied, dried fruits, brown sugar, Christmas Cakes covered in creamy caramel, dulce de leches and toffee, hints of dried coconut, candied nuts, star anise, and lacquered wood; at the end, more vanilla, cream, caramel.

Finish: Medium-length with caramel, vanilla, and hints of coconut.

Score: 5-6

Mental Image: Sticky Christmas Desserts

Narrative & Notes: I poured this as dram #7 on a “Holiday Mystery Whisky Advent Calendar” and guessed it was a 20-ish Year Old Invergordon matured at least partly in a sherry cask. It took me a bit to decide whether I thought it was Cambus or Invergordon, so I practically flipped a coin and figured this reminded me slightly more of the Invergordon I have tried than the intensely sherried Cambus.

I was wrong. I had a suspicion in the back of my mind that this could be Irish. It reminded me of a James Bow Street 18 Year I reviewed earlier in 2022. I liked this better than that whisky; this felt more complex, but it never rose above the level of being a solid sipper. Nothing is wrong with that; not every whisky needs to be life-changing.

Overall, I suspect if I had tried this a few years earlier, I would have scored it a bit higher and perhaps even sought out a bottle. Nowadays, I prefer my whisky more malt-forward, but this was still nice. A few other whisky-advent calendar participants thought the chestnut finish stood out and played a starring role in the profile. None of the notes registered with me as particularly French chestnut-driven, though this was my first encounter with such a maturation, so perhaps I simply did not recognize them.

Image Credit: The Whisky Exchange