Killowen Funky Ale Cask

About This Competition

Its World Whisk(e)y Day today, which also happens to coincide with my wedding anniversary this year.  To celebrate I’ve got some stunning Irish whiskey from Ireland’s smallest distillery – Killowen. Headed up by the alchemist Brendan Carty,  this is the whiskey fans closely guarded secret.  EVERYTHING I have tried from Killowen (whiskey, rum, poitin, 2 year old cask samples) has been nothing short of outstanding.  Due to its size, all releases are single casks or small batch, and as you can imagine, pretty much sell out instantly. Not everything makes it over to Great Britain either. So imagine my absolute shock & awe when I came across a small parcel of unsold bottles. One had to be shared with M&C faithful.

Here’s the press release for this funky ale cask:

Killowen Barántúil Cask 211 – Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey
Release Date 9th February 2024

Single Pot Still is the quintessential Irish whiskey. Although at Killowen we make mostly historically accurate styles we also have a tiny amount of casks left that adhere to the geographical indication of SPS. So making a giant experimental leap with one was a brave risk we were excited to take.

Beer hut brewing Co is just a few kilometers away from us and this cask made exceptional pale ale that boasted enormous tropical notes. All of this was made possible due to it’s combinations of fermentations pre and during cask conditioning, including highly experimental usage of Lactobacillus bacteria and Brettanomyces yeast. Essentially a controlled approach to what we do in the wild at Killowen making this collaboration a match made in heaven.

As standard this bottling follows all the Killowen ethos, cask strength, no chilled filtration and no added colours, therefore this is an integrity bottling so please open and share.

What to expect from this cask strength single cask of Single Pot Still?
Nose
Elegant & lively pot still notes with layers of lemon, peach and pineapple.
Palate
Silky and lathery in texture with flavours can only be described as upside down lemon & pineapple cake
Finish 
Tropical yes but then a nuttiness and slight savoury note that pairs perfectly with the milliard reaction notes of the flame-fed Killowen stills.