Walsh Whiskey, has today announced the launch of a new
limited-edition, Ice wine finished Writers’ Tears expression.
Writers’ Tears – Ice Wine Cask Finish (46% ABV) is a triple-distilled
vatting of Irish single pot still and single malt whiskeys, which has been
finished for 12 months in ice wine hogsheads.
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| Writer's Tears - Ice Wine Cask Finish |
Writers’ Tears – Ice Wine Cask Finish, has been produced in collaboration with Inniskillin Winery in Niagara, Ontario, Canada’s original estate winery and leading producer of ice wine.
Walsh Whiskey founders, Bernard and Rosemary Walsh, visited
the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario, in January 2020, and worked with Inniskillin
Winery and its then Head Winemaker Bruce Nicholson, touring the vineyard and
sampling fermenting wines before selecting 12 hogshead casks originally
coopered by the Berthomieu Cooperage (estd. 1906) in France.
The dozen selected hogsheads were disgorged of Inniskillin
Icewine in March 2020 and shipped to Ireland where they were filled with
Writers’ Tears Copper Pot in May that year. Checked at monthly intervals, the
first Irish whiskey ever finished in ice wine casks was bottled 12 months
later, in May 2021.
Commenting on the launch, Bernard Walsh, said: “I first
tasted ice wine in 2011, so plans for this expression have been fermenting in
my head for some time. With our core Writers’ Tears – Copper Pot expression we
have a unique combination of predominantly spicy Single Pot Still married with
Single Malt Irish whiskey. This core expression gets a whole new dynamic
complimented beautifully by the intense natural sweetness imparted by
Inniskillin’s show-stopping icewine.”
He went onto say: “When taking us around the vineyard,
Inniskillin’s then Head Winemaker Bruce Nicholson (now retired) explained how
they only harvest well-matured, thick-skinned Vidal grapes when the weather
presents a window of opportunity between -8 and -14 degrees Celsius. Bruce’s
ideal ‘sweetspot’ being -10 to -11 degrees.
Based on what we have produced, Inniskillin Icewine certainly contains
that intense sweetness that can carry through in the wood to our whiskey.”
Limited to 3,500 bottles, Writers’ Tears – Ice Wine Cask
Finish, will be available later this month in Ireland exclusively from the Celtic
Whiskey Shop, ahead of rolling out in Canada and the USA in November.
Posted by Steve Rush