Whiskey Review: McConnell’s Irish Whisky Sherry Cask Finish

Editor’s Note: This whiskey was provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. Per our editorial policies, this in no way influenced the outcome of this review. 

Ireland is a land rich with whiskey history and heritage. One of the more prominent brands once belonged to the McConnell family of Northern Ireland, who, in 1776, founded the original McConnell’s Irish Whisky (the brand predated the introduction of ‘e’ in Irish whiskey and has kept it that way to this day). Its legacy at that time, anchored by a distillery in Belfast near the River Lagan in the early 1800s, took a significant hit when, in 1909, a massive fire destroyed the equivalent of half a million gallons of whiskey.

McConnell’s rebuilt but took another, more fatal blow when Prohibition resulted in its demise, given that the largest international market for Irish whiskey was now gone, effectively gutting the majority of Irish whiskey producers at the time. It then went dormant for many years, remembered mainly through memorabilia in pubs across Ireland.

Fast-forward to more recent times, and the brand is now seeing a revitalization. For the time being, whiskey is being made in partnership with Great Northern Distillery, bringing the spirit of McConnell’s back alive. A new distillery related to it is also being built in Belfast, complete with a visitor’s center that looks as if it will be open to the public sometime this month.

The whiskey being reviewed today from McConnell’s is McConnell’s Irish Whisky Sherry Cask Finish. A blend of malted barley and grain Irish whiskeys, it is aged for five years in 1st-fill select Bourbon barrels and finished for nine months in Oloroso sherry casks. Bottled at 46% ABV, it is priced at $42.