Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/646914
march 2016 / the tasting panel / 73 distillery, which shines like a beacon in the center of the historic Newmarket Square ("new," obviously, because the market square was first laid out around 1675). The fine, custom-designed stills will produce close to 300,000 cases of whiskey at full production and the visi- tor center is already attracting crowds of enthusiasts and the idly curious, with the café building local patronage into the bargain. But unlike the majority of neophyte distillers, Teeling can offer a ready- made portfolio of mature whiskeys. Three expressions—Small Batch, Single Grain and Single Malt—make up the core offering, accompanied by a super- premium Vintage Reserve collection. Coming soon to the U.S. will be 12 single cask bottlings destined for select retailers nationwide. The products are backed up by a team of Portfolio Managers—enthusiastic, young Irish folk—who will undertake a program of trade education and tastings, initially in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and, naturally with its share of the Irish diaspora, Boston. What of the whiskey? I sampled it with Teeling's Master Distiller, Alex Chasko, (an escapee from Portland, Oregon) who suggested that they offered "something different that's all about taste." I concur. The spirit of Dublin is back—alive and well and in good hands. Writer Ian Buxton signs the wall at the Teeling distillery. It makes perfect sense that Legal Seafoods, a restaurant staple in Boston, Massachusetts, would choose a cold Irish coffee as their Teeling cocktail of choice. "With such a large Irish population, everyone in Boston knows this drink, but we wanted to do something different," says Patrick Sullivan, Executive Director of Bar Operations for Legal Seafoods. A coffee, cream and Irish whiskey beverage traditionally served hot, Sullivan chose to go the opposite route and use a flavorful cold brew coffee as the base for the drink. "Most cold brew coffee is brewed as a rich and intense concentrate, and then filtered down with water. We just take that concentrate straight and use it. When the cocktail is shaken with cream, Demerara syrup and ice, the ice helps pare down the intensity slightly," Sullivan explains. All 33 Legal Seafoods locations will start carrying Teeling whiskey this month, something that Sullivan is looking forward to. "The Irish whiskey game has traditionally been dominated by a few brands, so it's really great to see a new whiskey come in and shake things up. Teeling has a flavor that's more complex and full-bodied than other Irish whis- keys, which makes it a great base for cocktails." —Jesse Hom-Dawson A Hot Take on a Cold Beverage Iced Irish Coffee ◗ 1½ oz. Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey ◗ 3 oz. iced cold brew Italian roast coffee ◗ ¾ oz. Demerara syrup ◗ ¼ oz. cream Shake wildly. PHOTO: JOSH REYNOLDS PHOTO: JOSH REYNOLDS Patrick Sullivan, Executive Director of Bar Operations of Legal Seafoods in Boston, Massacusetts.