Glendalough Grand Cru Burgundy Cask Finish Single Cask Irish Whiskey (700 ml)

Founded in 2011 by five partners who drew their water from Wicklow Mountain springs and named their distillery after a 6th-century monastic valley — Gleann Dá Loch, 'Valley of the Two Lakes' — Glendalough has consistently broken Irish whiskey convention. This single cask expression pushes further still: a Grand Cru Burgundy cask finish applied to Irish whiskey is virtually uncharted territory in the category, where ex-Bourbon and Oloroso Sherry dominate by default.

Distilled in a Coffey column still from a mash bill of Irish malted barley and corn, the spirit enters oak at 62.5% ABV, building its primary character in American oak ex-Bourbon barrels before transfer into a single Grand Cru Burgundy cask for finishing. The Pinot Noir-seasoned wood introduces red fruit extraction — dried cherry, raspberry reduction — layered over the grain's inherent cereal sweetness, while the porous Burgundian oak integrates without overwhelming.

Special feature: the single-cask bottling format means no vatting, no blending to house style — this is one cask's unmediated conversation between Wicklow grain spirit and Grand Cru Pinot Noir wood. Glendalough's maritime Wicklow climate, mild and east-coast moderated, slows oxidative exchange through the wood, preserving aromatic lift that a warmer warehouse would sacrifice. Drink now through the near term; the Burgundy influence is at its most expressive before further integration softens the fruit-forward edge.