Single pot still whiskey is a style that exists nowhere in the world except Ireland: a mash of both malted and unmalted barley, distilled in a pot still, producing a characteristically oily, spiced spirit. Micil Distillery opened in Salthill, Galway in 2016, making it the city’s first legal distillery in over a century. The family behind it carries six generations of distilling knowledge - most of it accumulated making poitín in the Connemara hills, outside the law.
Earls Island is aged in ex-bourbon casks and finished in Bordeaux red wine casks and ex-peated quarter casks. The peat character here comes from Micil’s own Connemara poitín tradition rather than any Scottish borrowing - a meaningful distinction. Bottled at 46% ABV. Red fruit, baking spice, soft smoke. The provenance is genuine and specific in a category where that is rarer than it should be.
£46 - masterofmalt.com