ABV |
46% |
LOCATION |
County Carlow, Ireland |
TYPE |
Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey |
MADE BY |
Bernard Walsh, Co-Founder |
COCKTAIL IDEAS |
Boulevardier |
FLAVOUR CAMPS |
Sweet |
Notes of |
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ABOUT ME |
The Walsh family has a motto: Never Say Die. It’s an attitude husband and wife team Bernard and Rosemary Walsh have instilled in their business since launching in 1999, guiding them through abandoned distillery builds and 20 years of growth.
Walsh Whiskey is the County Carlow-based company behind two staple brands on the Irish whiskey scene: The Irishman and Writer’s Tears.
With managing director and master blender Bernard Walsh at the helm, both brands have gained a reputation as reliable, flavour-forward whiskeys inspired by the golden era of Irish distilling.
Writer’s Tears in particular takes its name from the great playwrights, poets and novelists of 19th and 20th century Ireland, writers such as James Joyce, Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw. It was said they enjoyed their whiskey so much that when they cried, their tears were golden.
While there are several expressions of Writer’s Tears, most are a blend of single malt and single pot still whiskey – the latter made from a mash of malted and unmalted barley. It’s said Bernard has something of a sweet tooth himself, a quality mirrored in the variety of sweet wine casks used to mature the whiskeys – everything from PX and oloroso Sherry to Marsala and Icewine.
It wasn’t until 2021 that Writer’s Tears introduced a single pot still expression to its range using whiskey sourced from Great Northern Distillery in Dundalk.
Originally matured in ex-Bourbon barrels, Bernard Walsh chose to further mature the triple-distilled whiskey for an additional 12 months in Pedro Ximenez Sherry casks from Spain and Florio Marsala Hogsheads from Sicily. The result is a sweet and fruity experience laden with juicy tropical fruit, boiled sweets, milk chocolate and toffee.
Enjoy on its own or mix things up in a Boulevardier or a Highball made with cherry cola.
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