March 2021 – Tullamore Distillery Tasting Event

May 3, 2021

Waterford Whiskey Society – Tullamore Online Tasting – March 2021

We were delighted to welcome The Tullamore D.E.W Distillery to our third tasting of the year which was held online and hosted by John Quinn their Global Brand Ambassador and Kevin Pigott their Distillery Ambassador.

The theme of the night was Toasts and Tales which was a bit of craic as they shared some whiskey and stories from Tullamore’s past. It was again a great turnout for the society with 66 participants taking part. The line-up for the evening covered 5 expressions across some core bottlings and limited release whiskeys.

Tullamore DEW is owned by William Grant & Sons and was acquired in 2010. The new distillery was built 2013/14 and consists of four pot stills producing malt whiskey and single pot still whiskey. In 2017 a bottling hall and a grain distillery were added as well. The site also has a cooperage to support their cask management program.

Tullamore spirits are all triple distilled and the Tullamore DEW is the second biggest selling Irish Whiskey in the world after Jameson.

We started with a discussion on the concept of a DEW and a Brew, where a beer is the chaser to the Whiskey rather than the other way around which is more the accepted norm. We also tasted some dark chocolate as an accompaniment to the Tullamore 12 YO.

There were loads of stories too many to detail here and we got some great toasts to accompany any whiskey sharing event with friends. Also be sure to check out Kevin’s spoken word poem on YouTube (https://youtu.be/pnf_96jpnGw) lamenting the Irish Pub.

All expressions went down well with lots of opinions on which was the favourite on the night but loads of interest in the core range but also the Phoenix, and the Cask Sample.

The Whiskeys tasted:

Tullamore D.E.W. Original – 40% ABV, Blend of Malt/Grain/Pot Still, Triple Distilled, and matured in ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, and ex- Tullamore (B2) barrels. The Malt and Pot are all new Tullamore distillate and within 12-15 months will include their own grain as well.
Tullamore D.E.W. XO – 43% ABV Rum finished original whiskey but at a higher ABV, the rum is a dark navy rum which is filled into Tullamore casks (ASB’s) for 3 months then taken out and the whiskey is replaced in the same barrels for another 3 months.
Tullamore D.E.W. 12 year– 40% ABV, More Pot Still influence here circa 50%+.
Tullamore Phoenix 55% –55% ABV, and 7-11 YO spirit. Released to celebrate turning the sod on the new distillery in 2013. The Phoenix is the town emblem of Tullamore. A more sherry influenced whiskey as well. There was a second version at 46% released through travel retail as well.
Tullamore D.E.W. Cask sample surprise – 61% ABV, New distillate from October 2014 and finished in a sherry cask. Unsure as to how this will be used for future releases, but we may see something within the next 6 months to a year.