The Woodpecker & The Leprechaun Cherrywood Finish Whiskey 0.5 l

Volume: 0.5 litres | Alcohol content: 56.7% | Chill filtration: No

Special Features:

The Cherrywood Finish is one of five single-cask bottlings exploring how different woods influence the same base whiskey. Triple-distilled at the Great Northern Distillery in May 2017, the single malt first matured for five years in a first-fill ex-bourbon cask. In February 2023, part of it was transferred to a handmade 50-litre virgin cherrywood cask whose wood had not previously been used for maturation.

After twelve months of finishing, the whiskey was bottled in February 2024 at a total age of six years and nine months. The release comprises 87 bottles of 0.5 litres each, at a natural cask strength of 56.7%. The whiskey has no added colouring and is not chill-filtered. Its fresh profile brings together mint, green apple peel, honey, light-coloured fruit and lime zest.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: On the nose, peppermint and green apple peel combine with floral notes, wood glue, Manuka honey and vanilla. There is also an impression reminiscent of a rain-soaked synthetic running track on a summer day.
• Palate: On the palate, mint and green tea meet forest honey, vanilla crescent biscuits, coconut, light-coloured fruit and lime zest.
• Finish: The finish is fruity, with a fresh mint character.

Distillery/Bottler:

The Great Northern Distillery in Dundalk, County Louth, is an independent Irish distillery that has been producing since 2015. It works with brand owners and bottling partners, offering maturation and blending alongside distillation. Using pot stills and column stills, it produces various whiskey styles, including grain whiskey, double- and triple-distilled malt, and pot still whiskey. The single malt in this bottling was triple-distilled.

The Woodpecker & The Leprechaun is the project of independent bottler Sebastian Büssing and The Spirits Alchemist. It grew out of his meeting with Irish whiskey expert Neil Saad in winter 2022: Saad contributed his knowledge of and contacts within the Irish whiskey scene, while Büssing brought his experience with unusual cask maturation. For their first series, the same ex-bourbon-matured single malt was divided between casks made from apple, pear, cherry, mulberry and wild service tree wood. This allows the different wood influences to be compared directly.

Facts: