Walsh Whiskey, the company behind the delightfully named Writer’s Tears, have unveiled a first for the Irish whiskey category with the creation of an ice wine finished whiskey. Writers’ Tears – Ice Wine Cask Finish has been produced in collaboration with Inniskillin Winery in Niagara, Ontario, Canada’s original estate winery and leading producer of ice wine.
The limited-edition release is a unique triple-distilled vatting of Single Pot Still & Single Malt whiskeys, has been finished for an additional 12 months in ice wine hogsheads, before being bottled at 46% ABV.
This 23rd expression from Walsh Whiskey founders, Bernard & Rosemary Walsh, is the latest innovation in their quest to produce the perfect drop of whiskey. This time their journey took them to Canada’s prime wine region, when Bernard & Rosemary visited the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario, in January 2020. There they worked with Inniskillin Winery and its then Head Winemaker, Bruce Nicholson (now retired), touring the vineyard and sampling fermenting wines before selecting 12 hogshead casks originally coopered by the Berthomieu Cooperage (est. 1906) in France.
The dozen selected hogsheads were disgorged of Inniskillin Ice wine in March 2020 and shipped to Ireland where they were filled with Writers’ Tears – Copper Pot (at high strength) in May that year. Checked at monthly intervals, the first Irish whiskey ever finished in ice wine casks was bottled 12 months later, in May 2021, at 46% ABV.
Commenting on the first ever ice wine cask finish of an Irish whiskey, Walsh Whiskey Managing Director, Bernard Walsh, said: “I first tasted ice wine in 2011, so plans for this expression have been fermenting in my head for some time. With our core Writers’ Tears – Copper Pot expression we have a unique combination of predominantly spicy Single Pot Still married with Single Malt Irish whiskey. This core expression gets a whole new dynamic complimented beautifully by the intense natural sweetness imparted by Inniskillin’s show-stopping ice wine.”
He added: “When taking us around the vineyard, Inniskillin’s then Head Winemaker Bruce Nicholson (now retired) explained how they only harvest well-matured, thick-skinned Vidal grapes when the weather presents a window of opportunity between 17.6 and 6.8 °F. Bruce’s ideal ‘sweet spot’ being 14 to 12.2 degrees °F. Based on what we have produced, Inniskillin Ice wine certainly contains that intense sweetness that can carry through in the wood to our whiskey.”
The whiskey’s nose delivers peach & apricot over a unique Pot Still spice. On the mouth it offers floral blossom and nutty oak, with a fruity finish of mango & lychee.
3,500 bottles of Writers’ Tears – Ice Wine Cask Finish are being released to the US, Canada and Ireland, retailing for US$84.99. The whiskey is now rolling into market throughout the US.