What they say

Hinch “Craft & Casks”, is a partnership between our Distillery and Irish Craft breweries to create distinctly different beer barrel aged whiskies.

Our Irish Red Rye Finish uses casks which aged craft beers at the Kinnegar Brewery located in beautiful Co. Donegal and renowned for producing fabulous Rye craft beers. On the whiskeys nose their Irish Red Rye adds sweet toffee butter cocoa a hint of red apple and orange zest citrus. On the palate rich cocoa bitterness combined with fruit boiled sweets, light vanilla and an element of sweet oak spice. Our whiskey was aged in the craft beer casks for a minimum of 12 months. A modern and bold move for the whiskey lovers proudly made in County Down.

https://www.hinchdistillery.com/whiskey/hinch-craft-casks-irish-whiskey-irish-red-rye-finish

What I say

Sampled during the #HinchDistillery Tweet tasting held in May 2021. This is produced from sourced 4 Year Old Irish Blended Whiskey omprised of 75% Grain and 25% Malt whiskeys is then finished in selected beer casks as part of Hinch’s Craft & Casks range – in this case Irish Red Rye ale produced by Kinnegar Brewery located in Co. Donegal. The team at Hinch are using this to experiment with the effects of different beer casks to apply at a later date to their own matured whiskey.

• ABV 43%
• Age 4 Years Old
• Bottler Hinch
• Bottling Craft & Casks
• Cask Irish Red Rye Ale
• Category Irish Blended Whiskey
• Cost $42
• Origin undeclared
• Outturn 1500 bottles
• Region Ireland
• Released 2021
• Vintage undisclosed

My tasting notes

• Appearance Amber gold (8/20)
• Nose Leathery, salted toasted almonds, fresher, citrus, lemon tart, vanilla Danish, icing, white flowers.
• Taste Light-Medium bodied Baklava with lemon juice, white grape, pear & apple juice, malted milk biscuits, Farley’s Rusks, Dulce de Leche and gingersnaps.
• Finish Medium, vanilla, baking spices and oak wood
• Overall Another interesting and very different beer-cask finish from Hinch. The Red Rye casks introduce some zesty and spicy elements but also highlight plenty of cereal nature of the base blend.

Score 83/100

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