The first release from Midleton Very Rare Silent Distillery Collection is a peated Single Malt Whiskey which has been sublimely aged for 45 years. This incredibly rare Single Malt release captures the pioneering spirit of Old Midleton Distillery; a distillation from an extraordinary decade of experimentation and innovation.
February 2020 heralded the launch of the first release from Ireland’s oldest ever whiskey collection. Midleton Very Rare Silent Distillery Collection is a collection of six releases, the first of which is a 45-year-old Irish single malt. There will be one release annually until the year 2025, ranging in age from 45 to 50 years old, all from the fabled Old Midleton Distillery (operating 1825-1975). The last release will coincide with a historic event, Old Midleton Distillery’s 200th birthday.
When the spirit for Midleton Very Rare Silent Distillery Collection Chapter One was laid down in 1974 under Master Distiller Emeritus Max Crockett, a year before the closure of Old Midleton Distillery, it was part of a series of innovative trials never to be released or repeated. Crockett’s experimentation with peated single malt whiskey from 1964 to 1974 will come to light for the very first time through this release which paves the way for new beginnings in the world of ultra-rare, luxury Irish whiskey.
Midleton Very Rare Silent Distillery Collection Chapter One is the only release in this collection to have been created as a peated single malt – pure innovation for Irish whiskey at the time, and rare still today. Decades in the making, the third-fill sherry cask that has influenced this whiskey has been lying dormant for 45 years. This makes it one of the world’s rarest whiskeys by its very nature. The cask contributes notes of ripe honeydew melon, red berries and sweet spices of toasted oak.