Great Northern Irish single malt whiskey tasting note
The Great Northern Distillery is a whiskey made in Dundalk, north or Dublin, in Ireland. To me, this production facility has quietly been flying under the radar, so I had to do some research to share with you here. The GND is actually an operation you could compare to the Girvan / Ailsa Bay Distillery that the Grant family owns in Scotland. With a total capacity of 16 million litres a year, the GND produces grain and all kinds of malted and pot still whiskey. With this they supply external customers such as “bulk private labels, contract distilling, retail own label and supplementing spirit and whiskey for smaller distilleries and in the home and international markets”.
The Taiwanese based Whisky AGE bottled a batch of Great Northern single malt under their Whisky Blues label. When I saw a bottle pop up in a newsletter of a Rotterdam based retailer, I took a gamble and purchased one. The Whisky Blues collaborates with Taiwanese artists to create wonderful paintings on their labels. I was very impressed by the atmospheric scene on my bottle. It would be a nice touch to add the name of the artist on the actual bottle. For the future perhaps?
Great Northern 5 years old, bottled at 58,2 % abv by The Whisky Blues
First things first: This Great Northern was bottled in February 2023 and The Whisky Blues managed to get 1266 bottles together, signalling this was a batch (reference TWB02). Natural colour, cask strength and non-chill filtered.
Upon Sipping: Opens up on nice citrus smells and gradually other members of the fruit orchard as well, with green apples setting the tone. I can see why Whisky AGE put this in the bottle, as it already shows maturity and fruitiness beyond the 5 years of age. Is this actually a pot still Irish masquerading as a single malt? The taste stays closer to the core product, spoiling us with breaded notes, warm croissants, but of course also a good hint of alcohol hotness. Let’s put in some water quickly. The aroma is full of gummi bears that my daughter likes to devour. Ah yes, the taste is now very soft and gentle, you really need to take out the sting and then you’re fine. I am thinking about Magdalena cakes. The finish is beautifully full of fruit, bread and candy.
Word to the Wise: What a delightful single malt this is! A pity that we will not always know which bottle of Irish single malt whiskey this will be in, but luckily there are always independent bottlers who will present it to the thirsty masses. I, for one, am very pleased.
Score: 86 points.
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