Let’s get one thing straight, Ireland knows how to pour a drink and tell a story. Sometimes both at the same time. And when you find yourself wandering the Liberties in Dublin, past crumbling stone walls and half-forgotten churches, eventually you’ll smell it: that unmistakable aroma of grain and ambition.
This is Teeling Whiskey Distillery. It’s not ancient. It doesn’t pretend to be. In fact, it’s young by Irish standards, a 2015 upstart planting roots in a city with centuries of spirit. But like the best places I’ve found in back alleys and border towns, Teeling has soul. And, crucially, they’re doing things their way.
Not Your Grandpa’s Distillery
You walk into the place and it hits you — this isn’t just a museum of old barrels and romantic branding. It’s a functioning, sweating, copper-still-rattling beast of a distillery, and it’s not afraid to break a few rules.
There’s no reverent hush. No velvet ropes. Just stainless steel and steam, a working stillhouse, and a few whiskey nerds with more tattoos than titles explaining how they do things differently. Triple-distilled, sure — this is Ireland after all — but they play with casks like a chef experiments with fermentation. Rum casks. Wine casks. Even chestnut barrels if they’re feeling bold.
This isn’t nostalgia. This is a reckoning. And it tastes damn good.
A Shot of Dublin: The Liquid Kind
After the tour, we head upstairs. Sunlight cuts through the windows and hits the tasting room like a soft spotlight. Glasses line the bar. There’s a flight waiting. I take the first sip and it’s like finding a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Saigon that serves the best pho of your life. It’s unexpected. It’s real.
I try the Small Batch — their flagship. Rum-cask finish. Vanilla, dried fruit, a little fire. A whiskey with opinions.
But then I hit the Teeling Single Malt. Game over.
The Favourite: Teeling Single Malt
This bottle, man. It’s like jazz in a glass. No one-note nonsense here. Aged in not one, not two, but five different wine casks — sherry, port, madeira, white Burgundy, and cabernet sauvignon. It shouldn’t work, but it does. Somehow, beautifully.
You get layers — figs, citrus peel, dark chocolate, even a little green apple just to mess with your head. It’s complex, but it’s not trying too hard. It’s the kind of whiskey you could drink while arguing philosophy at 2am, or just staring out at the rain from a third-floor window in Rathmines wondering where the hell your life went.
At 46% ABV and non-chill filtered, it keeps all the funk and character. It’s Irish whiskey — but it’s on tour, man. It’s seen the world.
Where to Buy It (Because You Should)
If you can’t get to the Liberties, or if you drank your last bottle dry during a long winter of soul-searching, your best bet is The Single Malt Shop.
They’ve got Teeling’s full range — from the flagship Small Batch to the peated Blackpitts to that glorious Single Malt I can’t stop thinking about. Reliable, fast shipping, and they know their stuff. No tourist trap markup, no BS. Just proper bottles from people who give a damn.
Final Thoughts (Before the Buzz Fades)
Teeling isn’t about romanticizing the past. It’s about rewriting the future of Irish whiskey — one weird, wonderful, wine-cask-finished bottle at a time. It’s a bit punk. A bit polished. It doesn’t whisper tradition — it sings it, then remixes it.
If you’re ever in Dublin, skip the overpriced pints and polished tours. Head to Teeling. Listen. Sip. Think. Or don’t.Just make sure you bring home a bottle. Because whiskey like this doesn’t stay a secret forever.
