Midleton 1991 20 Year Old Exclusive to The Whisky Exchange

Tasting Notes

• Tasting Notes by Serge Valentin (Whiskyfun)

  • Nose

    Awww… It seems that this is a fruit bomb and yet, it’s all elegance and precision. It’s not too easy to spot what comes from active American oak and what comes from the spirit and time but what’s absolutely sure is that it’s a brilliant nose. Fantastic notes of blood oranges, passion fruits and very ripe kiwis, then ripe nectarines and maybe zwetschke, all that in a gangue of sweet natural vanilla (no vanillin blast) and rose essence. With water: fresh fruits on overdrive.

  • Mouth (neat)

    More a fantastic liqueur than whiskey, and this is no pity and no shame. Thick, coating, jammy fruits, between chutneys and jellies. That would include oranges, passion fruits again (or rather this spectacular maracuja ice cream when it’s well made), a very Irish banananess (?!) and a little Muscat plus some honey and maple syrup. It also seems that some spices are roaring in the background, waiting to be unleashed. Let’s see… With water: there are some oaky spices indeed but they’ll never defeat the fruits, so this remains purely fruity. Orange honey.

  • Finish

    Quite long, with a little more cinnamon this time.

  • Comments

    Evident and even unanswerable. I’m wondering if this isn’t the best Irish I’ve ever tasted. I mean, my favourite. SGP:741 - 91 points.

• Tasting Notes by Ruben Lutyen (WhiskyNotes)

  • Nose

    A great mix of tropical fruits: mango, juicy apricots, kiwi, banana, honeydew melon and pink grapefruit. Excellent. It’s a fragrant, aromatic style of fruit, with hints of marshmallows and rosewater lokum. Creamy vanilla and frangipane. Some light (typical) solventy notes as well – I like that. All this spiced up by some young oak.

  • Mouth

    Utterly fruity again. Peaches, melon, banana, pink grapefruit, white grapes. Grows substantially spicier, think vanilla, cinnamon bark and ginger. Hints of roses before it turns to a peppery, oaky heat.

  • Finish

    Sweet and spicy. Echoes of cigar boxes and pepper.

  • Comment

    This Midleton 1991 is a quintessential Irish pot still whiskey. It shows exquisite fruits and the oak is well contained. Of course € 275 is a big pile of bank notes for a 20 year-old Irish whiskey (I’ve just bought a Glenburgie 1966 for less money). Seriously though, this is an extremely seductive dram. Warmly recommended.

  • Score

    91/100

• Tasting Notes by Oliver Klimek (Dramming)

  • Colour

    Bright amber

  • Nose

    Intense signature potstill nose with peach, banana, lemon zest, treacle, vanilla, fresh wood and nutmeg.

  • Palate

    Peach Melba, strong vanilla and light butterscotch, hints of lemon zest and green tea, nutmeg and pepper.

  • Finish

    Endless, fruity and spicy.

  • Overall

    This is what Irish whiskey is all about, a true benchmark for the ‘pure potstill’ style.

  • Rating

    92/100

• Producer's Tasting Notes

  • Nose

    A presence of aromatic oils and spices typical of this style of Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey. Some linseed, backed-up with a touch of menthol, paves the way for fleshy, exotic fruits as well as kiwi, melon and a squeeze of blackcurrant. The wood influence cannot be ignored with vanilla overtones and firm base notes of charred oak, completing the aromatics.

  • Palate

    The initial succulence of the fruity mouth-coating develops into a rich infusion of spices and fruit. Cinnamon, vanilla and dark chocolate, some sweet green pepper with cedar wood and charred oak, all delivered in harmony.

  • Finish

    A long and leisurely finish. The full complexity slowly fades leaving the last word to the barley.

• Tasting Notes by Tim F

  • Nose

    Naturally there’s waves of delicious vanilla cream from the bourbon cask, but here it’s merely the backdrop for a mouthwatering array of tropical fruit, with peaches and apricots most prominent. Hints of cantaloupe melon & kiwi that may be familiar to anyone who’s tried Midleton’s Barry Crockett Legacy, the jewel in the crown of the ongoing single pot still range. The single pot still cereals and brown-sugared porridge are there too, plus rhubarb crumble, sweet raspberry cranachan and honeyed flapjacks in abundance. A captivating nose.

  • Palate

    Sweet honey, then tremendously intense peaches & cream; a spicy bite, then oranges, apricots, dried ginger, white grape juice, rosehip syrup, shortbread & butter biscuits, the kiwi fruit, honeysuckle and various different kinds of melon. A growing woodspicey tingle. Water lifts the woodspices initially, but after a minute or two releases sweetpea, kumquat, orange flower water, nougat, natural caramel and grassy notes.

  • Finish

    Still lots of fruit, becoming orangey. The oak grows more prominent now, with hints of furniture polish and a final burst of warming, drying spice that envelops and lingers longest on the palate.