Ireland’s oldest family-owned wine and spirit merchant, Dublin firm Mitchell & Son, is celebrating 135 years in business by launching an exclusive new whiskey under its Spot banner.
The people responsible for premium whiskeys Blue Spot, Green Spot, Yellow Spot and Red Spot now bring us Gold Spot Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey.
Retailing at a cool €120 and launched this Monday (13th), the new whiskey has been matured for a minimum of nine years in the Spot series’ usual combination of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks.
However, what makes this bottle special is that Bordeaux wine casks and port pipes have also been used in the maturing process, imparting what the distillers describe as “exceptional flavours of vibrant fruits enhanced by delicate oak tannins and wood spices” into the liquid.
It’s a process that deliberately harks back to the late 1800s when, as the Mitchell family recently discovered, significant quantities of port casks were imported into Ireland for the same purpose.
Whiskey enthusiasts will also be interested to know that Gold Spot Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey is bottled at a healthy 51.4% ABV.
Katherine Condon, Distiller at Irish Distillers, said: “It has been a privilege and a joy to work with the renowned Mitchell family as they took us on a journey through the rich history of their business, handed down through seven generations.
“Gold Spot truly is a liquid time capsule with the wine-driven casks treading a beautiful balance of tradition and innovation and marking their 135-year history of whiskey bonding in Ireland.
“We cherish these opportunities to collaborate with the Mitchell family and look forward to welcoming even more whiskey fans to taste a piece of whiskey history within the Spot family.”
Jonathan Mitchell of Mitchell & Son added: “We’re delighted to continue the legacy of the Spot family, and our family’s historic role in Dublin’s whiskey bonding era.
“It has been fascinating to once again collaborate with Katherine Condon and the talented team at Midleton to celebrate the colourful story of our family business, utilising casks that would have been originally introduced to Irish whiskey in the late 1800s. We’re excited to see what the future holds for this wonderful family of whiskeys.”
