Irish Distillers, makers of some of the world’s most well-known Irish whiskeys - including Jameson and Redbreast - has added a new single pot still Irish whiskey finished in virgin mulberry wood into its innovative Method and Madness range.
In a first for Irish whiskey, the limited-edition release has been finished in white mulberry wood felled in central Hungary, where the local climate creates the perfect growing conditions. The wood was then harvested and air-dried for two years at the Kádár sawmills in Tokaj before being transferred to a cooperage in Budapest. The relatively high porosity and medium toasting of the mulberry wood casks impart flavours of wood spices and toffee sweetness, and give a natural golden hue to the whiskey.
The whiskey, a single pot still distillate, was first matured in a combination of first fill and re-fill American oak barrels, before being left to finish in 50-litre mulberry wood casks. Bottled at 46% ABV, the resulting whiskey is wonderfully complex with notes of smoked paprika, flavours of sweet toffee apple and a freshly cut wood character imparted from the virgin Mulberry Wood.
First launched in 2017, Method and Madness continues to push the boundaries of Irish whiskey through innovative releases by harnessing the experience and creativity of the masters and fresh thinking of the apprentices at Midleton Distillery and Micro Distillery. Just as the spirit of exploration and experimentation has guided the collection to date, this new release was born out of trials dating back to 2019, when Midleton’s Wood Planning and Maturation Team Lead, Finbarr Curran, sourced the rare mulberry wood casks from Budapest.
Back in Ireland, the team at Midleton experimented with different whiskey styles and maturation times for the perfect marriage between liquid and cask. Just 50 litres in size and conducive to accelerated maturation, given the large surface-to-volume ratio, the Midleton Masters and Apprentices kept a close eye on the whiskey before finally settling on a finishing period of between three and eight months for a perfectly balanced wood contribution.
