Redacted Killowen Single Pot Still & 20 year old Cooley Naggin

Independent bottlers are a rare thing in Ireland, well in comparison to how we look at Scottish independent bottlers. If we look at the well known names in Scotland such as Cadenhead’s, Gordon & MacPhail, Signatory (as just a few examples, there are many, many more good examples out there), they take spirit from a distillery, mature it how they want it and for how long they want it and then release the whisky with all the relevant details…the age, maturation method, abv, outturn and importantly, NDA’s allowing, the name of the distillery that the whisky came from. In a word - transparency.

In a sense many of the brands selling Irish whiskey are independent bottlers as they are selling spirit that they didn’t distill themselves….they just aren’t disclosing where the spirit came from. Instead they hide the source through the smoke and mirrors of branding. As examples I can think of Egan’s, Hyde, Jack Ryan and Samuel Gelston’s as a few. Even here in Florida I’ve come across brands of Irish whiskey I’ve never heard of in Ireland. 

An outlier is JJ Corry who actively embrace that they are whiskey bonders as used to be very common in Ireland during it’s first whiskey boom, when bars and wine merchants used to buy directly from distilleries and mature the spirit in their own premises.

Really the only brand identifying as an independent whiskey bottler was W.D. O’Connell who not only bottles Irish whiskey but has dabbled with some scotch as well including Caol Ila and Lochindaal. 

Of course being an independent bottler in Ireland isn’t quite as easy as in Scotland due to the limitations of selection. Scotland of course has over 140 distilleries, many of which only made malt or grain whisky destined for blending in names such as Chivas Regal or Johnnie Walker and it was only through independents that we could even try these whiskies in an unadulterated form.

Ireland though only had 3 working distilleries until Dingles arrival and so the availability of spirit really is an issue here for anyone wanting to become an independent bottler. Still that has put off the newest kids on the block, Redacted Bottlers. Headed up by best friends Michael Cowman (@thecowmanshow) and Ronan Collins (@whiskey4breakfast) they are seeking to make independent bottling much more of a thing here in Ireland and that can only be a good thing.

So far they have had three releases of which I’ve been fortunate enough to try two off. In the essence of transparency i got samples of these releases from Ronan, but as you should know by now that doesn’t mean I’ll be unnecessarily altruistic with my scoring (Red Earl anyone?).

The first release was a 3 year old Killowen single pot still matured in an ex-Great Northern Distillery peated whiskey cask. Bottled at 62.45% abv and costing £140 this has now sold out. I do love a good Killowen so let’s see how I get one with this one.

Next up is a 20 year old Cooley single grain that was matured in ex-bourbon before an undisclosed finishing period in an ex-barolo cask. This has been bottled in a 200ml ‘Naggin’.According to the Oxford English Dictionary the word ‘Naggin’ is a variant of ‘noggin’ that was first recorded in the 17th century and referred to a small amount of alcohol. This is bottled at 56.5% abv and costs £40 per bottle, which means it would be £140 for a 70cl bottle.

Both bottles are cask strength, natural colour and non-chill filtered. Release 2 of the full sized bottles is available too. It’s a 5 grain Irish whiskey mash from Blackwater distillery and is £80 a bottle. Sadly I haven’t got to try this one yet.

Let’s taste.

Redacted Release 001 Killowen SPS 62.45% abv

Nose: Unsurprisingly at full strength there’s a bit of stinging alcohol on first nosing. Second pass brings plenty of cereal, dry hay, caramel, crackly ginger and freshly ground black pepper. A buttery note too plus a wisp of peat from the ex-GND cask.

Palate: Great texture as expected from a Killowen - oily and viscous. Honey, a little gooseberry note with sharp apple and vanilla. Ginger and clove spice mixed with that distinctive pot still creaminess. Toasted oak and citrus. Again the peat is a little muted.

Finish: A little on the short side with warmth from the alcohol, spry ginger and tart citrus.

Score: 6 out of 10

Redacted 20 year old Cooley ‘Naggin’ 56.5% abv

Nose: A lovely, soft bouquet of light floral grain notes plus red berries. Plenty of vanilla, pear and melon as well as tinned custard. Then the wine kicks in with raspberries, cranberry and Red licorice. Some cinnamon and toasted oak.

Palate: Again a lovely mouthfeel. A really creamy arrival. Strawberry and cream boiled sweets, vanilla and a little coconut shaving. Then we get caramel, some pineapple and marshmallows. This is followed by white pepper and European oak spice. Balsamic reduction and a little furniture polish.

Finish: Medium length with a nice interplay of red berries, floral grain notes and warming spices.

Score: 7 out of 10

Overall:

A pretty solid start from Redacted and hopefully the standards can be maintained. The Killowen was solid but certainly not the best Killowen I’ve tried and I don’t think that the ex-GND cask transferred as much peat influence as would have been desirable.

The 20 year old Cooley is definitely worth investigating as it is still available on their site and it’s also quite hard to find any Cooley single grain these days, especially one aged for so long. I was a bit worried about how it would standup to the Barolo cask but thankfully the finish has been applied well and just adds layers of flavour over that creamy Cooley spirit.

Hopefully I’ll get to continue following the lads work here in Florida!

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