West Cork Distillers was formed in 2003 by childhood friends, John O’Connell, Ger McCarthy and Denis McCarthy at a time when it made very little economic sense to do so. The early years were far from glamorous, operating in a room at the back of Denis’ house in Union Hall with two small stills bought from a schnapps producer in Switzerland.
Currently the distillery operates out of a 12.5 acre site on Marsh Road, with a distillation capacity of 4mln litres of pure alcohol. With distributors across the globe, the award winning West Cork Irish Whiskey is now sold in almost 70 countries. Case sales have risen considerably every year for the past six years and the staff has grown to over 80 people, with the majority based locally in West Cork.
Distillation is carried out in eight pot stills and two column stills which produce almost 4.5 million litres of alcohol. A further three stills are dedicated to gin. Seven warehouses, which are all located on site at the distillery in Skibbereen, store up to 55,000 casks as needed. Five bottling lines operate 24 hours per day, six days per week. Every hour, there are 2,000 bottles processed on site.
Black Cask
A fine blend of grain (66%) and malt (34%) whiskey aged in first fill bourbon casks for three years, and polish matured for a further year in heavily charred bourbon casks. The result is a beautifully balanced whiskey with a vanilla and lingering sweetness.
Tasting Notes
Nose: Fried banana and toasted nuts, with honeyed orchard fruit and almond cream.
Palate: Sweet malt and wafts of subtle smoke, with orchard fruit, cinnamon and honeycomb.
Finish: A creamy finish with chocolate, ripe pear and oak char.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.