Midleton Very Rare just got even rarer with latest world-first whiskey release

Midleton Very Rare comes along just once a year, an annual vintage to savour and collect from the famous distillery just a few miles from Cork. 2026, however, is different.

While there was an additional release in 2024 for the 40th Anniversary Ruby Edition which came in a stunning wooden box, it possibly costs more than your car is worth at €20,000 a bottle. This year’s extra drop is far more accessible and is, in its own way, just as special.

Following the 2026 vintage, launched earlier this year, the distillery has announced Midleton Very Rare Irish Chestnut Edition, and Shortlist took the short flight to Ireland to be among the first in the world to taste it.

Tangible terroir

This is by no means the first whiskey to be aged in Chestnut casks. In fact, the Midleton Distillery has previously used French and Japanese Chestnut for ageing. The significant difference here is that every single one was made with Irish Chestnut trees, grown locally, not even an hour’s drive from the distillery.

This is partly made possible because, by regulation, Irish whiskey is allowed to be aged in ‘wooden casks’, meaning any wood can be used, whereas Scotch must be aged in oak.

This experimentation has allowed Midleton to create a true world first.

As the main part of the trip, we were taken to the Cappoquin Estate, in the Blackwater Valley. Home to the Keane family since 1735, it has hundreds of acres of orchards and forest. Rewind to 2017 and it was here that six trees were hand–picked.

After being felled and then flown to Spain, the timber was air-dried and made into casks, overseen by Derek Cronin, the distillery’s second newly qualified cooper in over 45 years. Once safely back in Ireland, they were filled with Midleton Single Pot Still whiskeys, previously matured in first-fill and refill Bourbon barrels.

They then spent no less than five years finishing in the Irish Chestnut casks, but considering finishing is typically defined as several months to around a year, this could comfortably be classed as secondary maturation.

We wouldn’t normally spend this much time dwelling on the casks, but it’s incredibly important for this expression. Those six trees resulted in just over 40 casks and, as Eric Ryan, Maturation and Innovation Specialist at Midleton Distillery put it, “These are the rarest casks in the world.”

Having been led through the estate, tasting apples from the orchards en route, we made our way through the woods to possibly the most fitting place you could possibly taste a whiskey; beside the single stump where two of the trees (a twin tree) used for the casks once stood.

Here we met Kevin O’Gorman, Master Distiller for Midleton Very Rare, to taste the Irish Chestnut Edition. If you didn’t quite grasp terroir before, then perhaps you do now.

The proof of the pot-still’s in the tasting

The final blend of the different pot-still whiskeys which make up this new expression was made up from roughly an even split of light, medium and trad (traditional) distillates aged between 17 and 24 years. There’s a leaning to the refill Bourbon casks to allow the Chestnut to have its say and the result is an exquisitely complex and luxurious whiskey.

On the nose is the aroma of crisp but sweet apples, vanilla, and honey with subtle hints of pear, banana and spice.

To taste, there’s plenty more fruit with some tropical notes, then brown sugar, stroopwaffles, spices such as nutmeg and ginger, with a hint of chocolate orange and wood.

As is so characteristic of high-end Midleton whiskeys, the finish is long and smooth with plenty of caramel, with lingering spices and chestnut.

Bottled at a cask strength of 56.1%, it’s got a kick, but that distinctive syrupy smoothness of Midleton’s whiskeys makes it extremely drinkable.

More to come?

As you can see on the bottle, this Irish Chestnut Edition is part of the Rare Woods Collection. A collection of just one isn’t much of a collection, especially in the world of whisky, so this implies there will be future releases to join it.

I couldn’t get any hints from Kevin or Eric, but it will be very interesting to see what comes next, considering the millions of barrels tucked away in Midleton.

For now, you can enjoy this special expression as it’s available now for £373/€440.

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