Cooley Distillery W.D. O'Connell 19 Years Old 144104 46% NV

Professional reviews

BOW (89.5)

Offical Tasting note:
This 19-year old single malt was initially matured in first-fill bourbon barrels, before we created a small batch that we aged for a further 24 months in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks. The successor to last year’s PX 18, it has a rich cocoa nose with white pepper spices, raisings & toasted oak. This year, we brought the whiskey back down to a manageable 46%, and the result is outstanding. Limited to 348 bottles

Serge Valentin (87)

It says 'peat cask', so perhaps more in-cask blending, let's be careful… This was distilled at the Great Northern Distillery in Dundalk. Colour: white wine. Nose: asparagus, fresh bark, sunflower oil, salsify, peanut butter, whiffs of lady's night cream and suntan lotion, shea butter… Well, the peat is very discreet. Mouth: there it is. It's fine, it's more or less of HP-levels, or say between light Ardmore and HP. Other than that, and even if this is pretty perfect, I would have preferred to find a similar profile after that nose that I really enjoyed. Roots, smoke, charcoal, grapefruit… No, it's really good and the peat is gaining traction. No, it's really really good. No, it's excellent, the smokiness being pretty tidal (I know what I'm trying to say). Finish: sometimes you just don't want to know about how they make their whiskies, it's like wurst. Oh hell, it's excellent. Comments: as I said, while it feels rather ten than five.