Two Stacks Polaris 4.1 Vintage Mash Bill Review
Founded in 2020 by Shane McCarthy, Liam Brogan and Donal McLynn, Two Stacks was born to reignite the tradition of the Irish bonder. As such they source spirit from different distilleries across the island of Ireland to create bespoke whiskies.
In 2022 they opened there own bonding and blending facility just outside Newry and it’s safe to say the brand has being going from strength to strength with quite a bit of innovation shown, not least the Dram In A Can, which is their best selling product. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, which means that the Two Stacks lads got the brief right first time around as many of their competitors now offer a similar product.
With a solid core range featuring the Signature Cut blend and it’s cask strength big brother, the Blenders Cut, the Fruit Drop’s range which explores varying brandy finishes and the Double Barrel range of grain, malt and pot still whiskies.
Then we have their limited edition releases, The Pillars of Creation, an annual release that takes spirits from across Ireland such as Dingle, Echlinville and Killowen distilleries. This year’s release features whiskies from Blackwater Distillery in Waterford and Lough Gill Distillery in Sligo and is currently available on their website.
Today’s bottle is from the Polaris range which had explored malts and pot stills being finished in the likes of Ice Wine casks & Tokaji casks, the third release used a peated single malt. The fourth releases see the use of the Vintage Mash Bill series distilled in conjunction with Boann Distillery and Fionnan O’Connor, Irish whiskey enthusiast, historian and general fountain of knowledge on all things Irish whiskey.
Polaris 4.1 uses mash bill no 5 from the 10 that Boann distilled. It comes from 1892 and, although it legally cannot be called a pot still whiskey due to the current technical file, is a pot still whiskey with a high oat content.
Release 4.2 uses mash bill 6 which explores the historic use of wheat in Irish whiskey and this too can be bought from the Two Stacks webstore in the Dram In A Can format.
Two Stacks Polaris 4.1 57% abv £95/$127/€110.50
Vintage Mash Bill – 30% Malted Barley / 40 % Unmalted Barley / 30% Oats
Fully matured in an Oloroso hogshead (250 ltr), Cask TS19
Distilled Jan 2021, bottled Apr 2025. Bottle no 182 of 252.
Nose: Initially woody & musty. Cracked walnuts, wet oak shavings, dunnage and rancio. Bitter dark chocolate, orange zest and gun oil. Underneath the active cask is an oaty creaminess, stewed orchard fruit and even a little mango.
Water brings out a hemp note now, balsamic vinegar as well as compressed strawberries and raspberries.
Palate: A thick, oily arrival with some youthful alcohol heat. 2nd sip brings dark chocolate, raisins, orange peel, almonds and brazil nuts. Flat cola, ginger, clove and even a little rubber. Stewed apples and wood sap. Old leather.
With water it loses a little structure but develops a herbal cough tincture element and more wood spice. Gives away its youth a little.
Finish: Short to medium in length with rancio notes, a dry nuttiness, raisin sweetness and some baking spice.
Score: 7 out of 10
Overall: A little sherry dominant but from my experience of old style Irish whiskey before the great consolidation of the 60’s and 70’s, this is very reflective of that old style.
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