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When you first meet someone, you can never really know their full story. Sure, initial impressions are important, but behind every one of us is a life lived that brought us to this very moment. That kind of thing isn't visible, but it makes us who we are.
Likewise, when you discover your first bottle of Glendalough Distillery's Double Barrel Irish Whiskey, you may not know the journey its liquid gold took to get to you. It's an incredible one, though.
Glendalough Double Barrel is a new style of craft Irish whisky for the new Irish whisky drinker. This premium single-grain craft whisky begins its journey in the Glendalough valley, nestled deep within Ireland's Wicklow mountains. Here, rolling hills covered with dew-soaked vegetation meet sparkling lakes, or calm streams that swerve around rocks that jut out of the water. It feels untouched, yet remarkably peaceful. This land isn't just beautiful, though — it's the stuff of legends.
Glendalough Distillery: The story
As the story goes, 1,500 years ago, Ireland’s revered St. Kevin left a life of comfort and nobility to seek sanctuary in nature. Deep in the Wicklow mountains, he found the valley of Glendalough — or, as it's known today, the "Garden of Ireland." As the saint marvelled at the unspoiled land, his arms outstretched, a blackbird laid her eggs on his open palm. Unwilling to disturb them, St. Kevin waited day and night, until the eggs hatched and the chicks flew on. Today, Glendalough Distillery proudly displays St. Kevin on every bottle of their Double Barrel Irish Whiskey as a strong yet gentle guardian.
Glendalough Double Barrel Irish Whiskey
Much like St. Kevin's blackbird chicks, this award-winning whisky spreads its wings during its maturation process. After careful distillation, it's aged in specially selected former American bourbon barrels. Then, it's finished in Montilla, Spain oloroso sherry casks before being bottled and arriving on your bar cart.
Once Glendalough's Double Barrel Irish Whiskey is out of the bottle, you can get acquainted with its luxurious complexity. On the nose, allow dark fruit, raisins, figs, floral lemongrass and a hint of nutmeg to entice your senses. On the first sip, savour Double Barrel's velvety-smooth sweetness on the palate, with notes of butterscotch, honey, peppercorn, brown sugar and more dried fruit. A spice-forward finish leaves you with distinct ginger and almond flavours.
St. Kevin’s followers built the 6th-century Monastic City in Glendalough. Its entrance is marked by a double archway, a sturdy portal that acts as a reminder to leave behind worldly baggage and negative attachments. Pass through and connect with the distilled beauty within. St. Kevin’s commitment and the archway he inspired form the ethos of Glendalough Distillery today.
Glendalough Distillery: What else
Glendalough Distillery is inextricably linked to the valley it's from. Many of their whiskies are aged in wood from sustainably felled Irish oak trees. They watch each tree come down, usher it out of Wicklow, and oversee its transformation into barrels. Then, inspired by the seven churches left behind by St. Kevin, the distillers plant seven saplings in its place. They look beyond Ireland for even more premium barrels, venturing into the deepest forests around the globe to find rarefied oaks that deliver only the most thought-provoking flavours to their whisky.
Their Irish gin, too, is a product of the land. Flavoured with untamed botanicals freshly foraged from the Wicklow mountains, a batch takes a whole year to make — much longer than other gins. Glendalough's full-time forager follows the cycles of nature, with an intimate understanding of which flowers to pick, from where, while they're in their best moment.
Glendalough Distillery has recently launched a new Irish gin, Glendalough Wild Botanical Gin. It's available now at LCBO, so pick up a bottle and savour a spirit directly from the "Garden of Ireland" itself.
Your bottle of Glendalough is waiting for you. You'll soak in the legends of its home valley and its stunning, untouched beauty with every dram. From March 2 to March 29, you can discover Glendalough Double Barrel Irish Whiskey for a special sale price of $46.95 at the LCBO.
To learn more about Glendalough's luxury spirits, follow them on Instagram or Facebook.
