Kilbeggan 21 Year Old

The best of Ireland. Bottled.

Kilbeggan distillery is a living museum. Seriously… it received it’s license to distill back in 1757. So while George Washington was wearing short pants and chopping at cherry trees, the folks at Kilbeggan were polishing copper and cranking up the stills. Like so many fine Whiskey houses of the era, they were hurt badly by Prohibition and the world’s economic troubles. To refinance, they put the distillery up for sale but got tricked by financial scammers and the place shut down in 1954.

Only a few years later the community of Kilbeggan united to rescue the place, transforming it into a Whiskey-making museum that makes Whiskey the old-fashion way. The water wheel and steam engine are still there in working order. The oldest Whiskey still in the world is still issuing spirit. And the 200-year-old granite rick house is still aging fine Irish Whiskey. The place is more than worth visiting. Until then, you can drink their Whiskey and dr(e)am.

Kilbeggan 21 Year Old is a complex little kicker, well-balanced and refined. First, Kilbeggan’s core product is a traditional Irish Whiskey combination of both grain and barley malt. That's just before the master blender Noel Sweeney gets his hands on the liquid gold, taking the finest pulls and setting them aside. This is their top-of-the-line product, so no expense is spared. That means they bring out the big wood.

They divide that premium Irish spirit into four parts and age it for a full 21 years in ex-Bourbon, Port, Madeira and Sherry casks. Yep… four different types of wood. You can imagine how the dram dances on the palate, can't you? Getting the right combination is a daunting task, but Sweeney pulled it off. Kilbeggan 21 Year Old is a limited edition, but it’s one we hope that they can repeat. If you are a fan of Irish Whiskey, this stuff just might be worth going the extra mile for.