Teeling Whiskey recently concluded the Renaissance series, a series of limited edition started in 2019. Each of the expressions was 18 years old, always finished in a different type of cask. For the final release they used Calvados casks.
Afer the Revival and Renaissance series comes the Rising Reserve series, which they recently kicked off with a Carcavelos finish. The image is just a marketing mock-up, the actual whiskey is much lighter.
Teeling Renaissance No.5 18 yo (46%, OB 2021, Calvados finish, 9000 btl.)
Nose: intensely fruity, with a lot of apple compote and pear drops, as well as apple cider. Raisins and a hint of marshmallow. Hints of tarte tatin and buttery apple cake. Then hints of honey, sugar cane sweetness, marzipan and vanilla. Quite a rich nose with a nice dessert-y sweetness.
Mouth: still sweet and fruity, with a light tropical hint. Ripe bananas and hints of mango, mixing with more of the expected stewed apples and pears. Mid-palate there’s a hint of passion fruit. Then it develops a light grassy touch, with some mineral notes and white pepper, toning down the fruits.
Finish: medium, with the grassy and peppery notes taking over and pushing the sweetness aside. A lot of apple peelings now.
Nice to see the tropical fruits. However they are pushed aside a little by abundant apple flavours, as well as a grassy / mineral edge that makes it sharper in the end. Overall quite a rewarding dram. Still available in a few places.