NOSE: Sweet and inviting. Caramelised apple, toffee fudge, and vanilla open cleanly, followed by delicate herbal and floral notes - garden mint, lavender - that build quietly beneath woodland spices of cinnamon and nutmeg. The American oak influence is present throughout without ever overpowering.

PALATE: Textured and layered. Sweet honeycomb leads with soft orchard fruits and gentle herbal undertones. White pepper and a whisper of chilli oil add a subtle kick alongside fresh citrus. Then the sweetness deepens - treacle, toffee, vanilla, and sugar-glazed fruits building to a rich, satisfying mid-palate. The pot-still spice and stone-fruit notes announced on the nose pay off here in full.

FINISH: Rich and lasting. The fruit notes soften and recede gradually, leaving oak and pot still spices - cinnamon, a touch of pepper - to carry the close. The finish lingers well, a hallmark of the older distillates in the blend.

• 200th Anniversary of Midleton Distillery
• Six Distillate Styles - A First for the Collection
• 22-Year-Old & 21-Year-Old Rare Grain Whiskeys
• Four Decades of Maturation
• Signed by Master Distiller Kevin O'Gorman
• Annual Numbered Vintage Release

Midleton Distillery in County Cork has been the heartbeat of Irish whiskey since 1825. It is home to Irish Distillers - the company that kept the flame of Irish whiskey alive through the industry's darkest decades - and remains the only place in the world producing Single Pot Still Irish whiskey at scale. The distillery houses everything from traditional copper pot stills to column stills, giving the production team unmatched flexibility to create whiskeys across a broad range of styles.

The A2 Warehouse, where the components for Midleton Very Rare are laid down, is one of the oldest bonded warehouses on the site. It is a controlled, closely managed environment where exceptional casks are identified early and reserved for the vintage program - removed from the general stock and left undisturbed until O'Gorman and Master Blender Billy Leighton determine they are ready.

• 94 Points - Tastings.com

Midleton Very Rare is ideal for collectors, Irish whiskey enthusiasts, and luxury buyers seeking refinement over intensity. It’s particularly suited to those who appreciate balance, subtle complexity, and provenance rather than high proof or heavy oak.

Best served neat in a tulip or Glencairn glass at room temperature - the layered nose rewards patience, and cooling it down with ice will suppress the more delicate floral and herbal notes. A single drop of still water can beautifully open the mid-palate if you want to explore the pot-still spice. This is a contemplative whiskey; pour it when you have time to sit with it. It's also a natural conversation piece - the 200th anniversary context and the complexity of the blend give you plenty to talk about.

We recommend Midleton Very Rare 2025 for customers who want:

• The pinnacle of the Irish whiskey category - a release that defines what Irish pot still and grain whiskey can achieve at the top level
• A genuinely historic bottle: the most complex vintage in 40 years of the Midleton Very Rare collection, made to mark the distillery's 200th anniversary
• Six distillate styles in one blend, including two rare grain whiskeys over 20 years old rarely seen in the category
• A collectible, numbered, signed release with strong year-on-year demand from both whiskey drinkers and collectors

If you're looking for the Irish equivalent of a Grand Cru - something with genuine rarity, legacy, and liquid quality to back it up - this is it.