With Midleton Distillery's warehouses having been under Kevin O'Gorman's care since 2007, the Master Distiller's knowledge of its cask inventory is second to none. To ensure the creation of an exquisite 2023 expression, O'Gorman and his team took their search for the perfect components to Midleton's renowned 'Warehouse A2', a traditional stone warehouse dating back to the 1860s, where only the most exceptionally performing liquid is stored for maturation.
While refill casks can play a vital role in creating all Midleton Very Rare vintages, they vary in each expression and play a more prominent role in the 2023 vintage. Midleton Very Rare 2023 includes the spectrum of pot still whiskeys produced at Midleton ranging from a lighter, delicate style to the more robust flavours of the traditional heavier style. Kevin increased the conventional pot's inclusion this year, elevating the spiciness and ripe fruit notes and increasing the lighter type to reveal more citrus and cereal tones. While important, fresh floral notes from the grain whiskey element are more subtle in the 2023 expression than previous vintages, with additional hints of vanilla, toffee, honeycomb and milk chocolate shining through from great grain whiskeys. This peeling back of the wood contribution, complimented by a slight reduction in grain whiskey, results in a beautiful balance between distillate character and wood contribution in this unique expression.