Glendalough Double Barrel Irish Whiskey (700 ml)

Founded in 2011 by five partners who named their venture after Glendalough — Gleann Dá Loch, the 'Valley of the Two Lakes' — the distillery built its identity around the Wicklow Mountains as a literal ingredient, drawing process and cutting water from mountain springs roughly 40 km south of Dublin. That mild east-coast maritime climate slows temperature swings in the warehouse, moderating extraction and preserving the lighter grain character the house deliberately pursues. The Double Barrel is a single grain whiskey: a mash of Irish malted barley and corn, continuously distilled in a Coffey column still, which produces a lighter, higher-rectified spirit than the pot-still dominant style of Ireland's larger distilleries — a deliberate transgression of the country's heavier heritage. Maturation runs approximately 3.5 years in first-fill American oak ex-Bourbon barrels, followed by roughly 6 months in first-fill Spanish Oloroso Sherry casks, the Sherry finish layering dried fruit and spice over the grain's natural sweetness. Bottled at 42% ABV, cut with purified Wicklow Mountain mineral water; NAS. What sets this expression apart within Irish whiskey is the dual first-fill regime — both primary and finishing casks are first-fill, maximising wood-sugar and oxidative contribution at each stage without the diluting effect of re-used staves. The result is a fruit-forward, approachable grain whiskey where the Oloroso influence is immediate rather than background.