Just to the south of Dublin, at the foot of the Wicklow Mountains, lies the Powerscourt Distillery where Fercullen is made. The building itself is an old converted 19th-century millhouse, but the distillery it houses is anything but old-fashioned. Fercullen is made using state-of-the-art equipment befitting of such an innovative Irish whiskey producer.
Like our Hinch whiskey, Fercullen is still a fairly new name on the scene, but it’s already gathering quite a reputation amongst lovers of Irish whiskey, both in Ireland and around the world. This 10-year-old whiskey is a single grain, and if you’re not sure what that means, we wouldn’t be surprised! Typically, single grain whiskeys like this Fercullen example are not bottled or sold by themselves, but instead are used as constituents of blended malts. In recent times they have started to be bottled and sold by some innovative distilleries, and are becoming appreciated in their own right. Not to be confused with the “single pot still” Irish whiskeys such as Green Spot, “single grain” means it’s made only from spirits produced at the Powerscourt Distillery.
It’s aged in white oak, before being moved to fresh bourbon barrels for final maturation. Tasters rave about this balanced, light whiskey, bursting with notes of vanilla, caramel and coconut. If you’re new to whiskey, or find the big peaty styles a bit much, or if you simply fancy something a bit lighter on a summer’s evening, Fercullen Single Grain 10-Year-Old might be just the ticket. It can of course be enjoyed neat, but is excellent mixed with soda water, or as the basis for a whiskey sour.
