Greenspot Single Pot Still Whiskey

Best known for the Green Spot Irish whiskey, the 'Spot' range is distilled at Midleton for the family-owned Mitchell & Son Wine Merchants. Set up in 1805, it wasn’t until 1887 that Robert Mitchell, a baker, confectioner and the sort of industrious shopkeeper so crucial in the history of whiskey (and whisky, too - Johnnie Walker was a grocer, for example) added whiskey bonding to the family business.

Mitchell devised a simple, though clearly effective colour coding scheme for casks, using spots of coloured paint on each cask in the warehouse to track the age of the whiskey in each barrel - can you see where we’re going with this? Blue Spot was 7 years old, Green Spot was 10 years old, Yellow Spot was 12 years old and Red Spot was 15 years old. A reliable ‘what you see is what you get’ approach was implemented, and Irish whiskey drinkers loved it.

Green Spot was first retailed in 1933, matured in bourbon casks as well as some Sherry casks, with their Yellow Spot also using sweet Malaga wine casks. The survival of these bonder's styles adds much greater variation to the exciting single pot still Irish whiskey category. However, distillery bottled whiskey took over the market, and all four expressions disappeared, Green Spot being the last to be discontinued in the 1950s. But wait! The range prevailed, as Green Spot was reintroduced to the market in the early 2000s, Yellow Spot was reintroduced in 2012, while Red Spot was brought back at the end of 2018.

The Old Midleton distillery was part of the Cork Distillery Company, which merged with John Power & Son and John Jameson & Son in 1966 to form Irish Distillers.

The new company was joined in 1972 by Bushmills, a situation which created a monopoly on the production of Irish whiskey. The Old Midleton boasted the world's largest potstill, with a capacity of over 31,500 gallons.

The new Midleton is an enormous modern distillery in County Cork built by Irish Distillers in 1975to streamline the production of its many brands. The transfer of production between the distilleries was seamless: the distillery workers left the Old Midleton distillery in the evening and started at the new complex the following morning.

This brought an end to nearly 200 years of Jameson production in Dublin, but the Old Jameson Distillery in Bow Street is now a visitor's centre. Tourists can also visit the Midleton complex, which is home to many other brands beside Jameson, including Green Spot, Paddy, Power's and Redbreast.

A non age statement Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey comprising of pot still whiskeys aged between 7 & 10 years. The whiskey has matured in a combination of new bourbon and refill bourbon casks as well as sherry casks.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Hints of peppermint, malt, sweet barley, sugary porridge, creamy vanilla, papaya and citrus.

Palate: Spicy and soft, gentle bourbon oak, green woods, menthol, potpourri.

Finish: Creamy, long finish, vanilla.