Ollie Alcorn is our head distiller here at the Lough Gill Distillery.

We are delighted to reveal the first three single cask bottlings, at cask strength, for our inaugural Athrú single cask release.

Single malt can only be called whiskey when it has been aged in oak casks for a minimum of three years. However each cask of whisky is inherently unique; no two casks from the same distillery, filled at the same time, in the same type and shape of cask, next to each other in the warehouse, aged for the same amount of time, essentially identical twins, will be the same. This is why single cask whiskey is so interesting, these limited releases, when the cask is finished can ever be reproduced.

With the release of Athrú single cask bottlings, buyers can taste whiskey in its purest form, direct from the cask. The number of bottles per release is limited to the size of the cask and the amount of liquid left after the angels have taken their share. Hopefully, they haven't been too greedy! These first three single cask whiskies will be selected from the warehouse by me, Ollie Alcorn (Head Distiller) and I will oversee the entire bottling process from start to finish to make sure every bottle is perfect. I'm hoping to showcase three distinct whiskies by selecting whiskey of different age and cask finish.

In our bonded warehouse, we have literally thousands of casks so you may wonder where do you start? Well, what I'll be looking for are the outlier casks, the best of each batch we have available. Luckily, I've witnessed each filling and transfer and also help to manage the stock sheet, so I know what liquid went into what cask at what point in time. Naturally, there are a few casks that I've been keeping a close eye on…

The first I’ve chosen for our inaugural single cask bottling is a 16-year-old whiskey that has been finishing in Pedro Ximenez (PX) for 3 years. This cask was due to be used for Athrú Annacoona but was ‘unfinished’ at that point. Now, a couple of years on the whiskey from this single cask has become delightful as it was left alone while the others were disgorged for bottling. The flavours from this cask are all things nice; vanilla pods, butterscotch, honey and almonds. I thought this would be a great introduction to our single cask releases.

The second cask I’ve chosen is from a small batch of rich Oloroso sherry hogsheads, which came from a fabulous Bodega in Cordoba, Spain. The casks were earmarked for older whiskey stock but there were 13 casks left over in the shipment and I decided to transfer some of our 2015 whiskey into the remainder from bourbon barrels. The result has been magnificent! All 13 of these casks now have great colour and aroma for a youngish whiskey. The reason for choosing this particular cask is for its depth and richness of flavour. I wanted people to taste how good a young whiskey can be even at a high ABV.

The final cask chosen is another 16-year-old malt, this time finished in a Tokaji Burgundy hogshead. This is the more complex of the three finishes and changes dramatically when water is added. We have a number of these casks but this one is unique. Where you may get a nose of leather, dark chocolate, sawdust and even bran at cask strength turns into peaches, apricots, almonds, plums and plantains when reduced in strength. It’s like having two whiskies in one.

Try them at cask strength and then reduce the ABV using the tiniest drop of water between sips if you like. The transformation is amazing.

Athrú’s single cask bottlings are available exclusively online here