Irish Distillers recently joined with one of Ireland’s last remaining wine merchants in crafting a special release called Gold Spot Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey.
The limited-edition whiskey honors the 135-year legacy of Mitchell & Son wine and spirits merchants.
A statement from Irish Distillers notes that the new expression pays tribute to the particularly colorful history of the Mitchell’s whiskey bonding business, which started in 1887.
It was back then when the bonders sent empty wine and fortified wine casks to the local Jameson Distillery to be filled with new single pot still spirit for maturation in its underground cellars.
Once filled, the fortified wine casks would be marked with a daub or ‘spot’ of colored paint to determine the age potential with Blue Spot, Green Spot, Yellow Spot and Red Spot, respectively indicating the 7, 10, 12 and 15 years of the whiskey within the Spot range.
The color gold, it is said, symbolizes quality, prestige, specialness and celebration, hence the Mitchells chose this color to signify their relationship with whiskey bonding over seven generations and 135 years.
The Gold Spot Single Pot has matured for a minimum of nine years, as the expression was built on the foundation of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, typical of the Spot whiskey style. It’s blended with a unique proportion of hand-selected Bordeaux wine casks and Port pipes.
The inclusion of Port casks, sourced from Irish Distillers’ partners in Portugal’s Douro Valley, is a first for a modern iteration of Spot whiskey.
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Working in collaboration with the Mitchells, the team at Midleton Distillery searched archive documents dating back to the late 1800s that showed significant quantities of Port casks imported into Ireland which, once emptied, would have been used to mature whiskey.
That inspiration led to the combination of the four different cask types chosen to impart flavors of what’s described as vibrant fruits enhanced by oak tannins and wood spices, with the Port wine-driven cask adding an additional layer of complexity and character.
Katherine Condon, distiller at Irish Distillers, said, “Gold Spot truly is a liquid time capsule with the wine-driven casks treading a beautiful balance of tradition and innovation and marking their 135-year history of whiskey bonding in Ireland. We cherish these opportunities to collaborate with the Mitchell family and look forward to welcoming even more whiskey fans to taste a piece of whiskey history within the Spot family.”
Jonathan Mitchell, managing director at Mitchell & Son, said that as the oldest family run wine and spirits merchants in Ireland, they’re “delighted to continue the legacy of the Spot family, and our family’s historic role in Dublin’s whiskey bonding era.”
Unveiled at Whiskey Live Dublin earlier this season, the non-chill filtered release is bottled at 51.4% ABV or 102.8 proof, a reference to historical methods of measuring alcohol content as noted in the Mitchell’s archive.
The whiskey is available online from www.spotwhiskey.com and from Mitchell & Son stores and all other select retailers for a suggested retail price of €120.
It will be available to buy in Ireland, France, the UK, Global Travel Retail, and the USA starting in mid-July.
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