A whiskey of the sea, the land and the fruit: ‘It seems strange, but it really works’

Recently I tasted a unique and delicious whiskey in Aimsir restaurant at Cliff at Lyons, Co Kildare. “Since we started, we have always wanted to do something special with whiskey. The restaurant has served the Killahora Apple Ice Wine with cheese since the beginning, and that will never change,” says Majken Bech-Bailey. She and her husband, Jordan Bailey, also work with Patrick Shelley of Origin Spirits and his Kalak Single Malt Vodka, Ornabrak Gin and Currach whiskey. They decided to bring the two together on the project.

The collaboration yielded Single Cask Currach Single Irish Malt Whiskey Atlantic Seaweed Cask, finished in Killahora Apple Ice Wine cask. Quite a mouthful, but so too is the limited edition whiskey. To produce it, Shelley takes a young bourbon-aged whiskey and adds it to a virgin American oak cask that has been gently infused with smoke from Atlantic kombu seaweed. This whiskey is then aged in a cask first used to mature the Killahora Apple Ice Wine. The result is a unique, complex whiskey with apple, dried fruit and subtle smoke aromas, leading on to butterscotch, tarte Tatin and figs on the palate.

“On paper it seems strange, but it really works,” says Barry Walsh of Killahora. “And I can’t think of anyone else other than Aimsir who would do it.” Patrick Shelley is equally enthusiastic. “It is a kick-ass product that has never been done before; it celebrates every unique element of Ireland, the sea, the land and the fruit.” The whiskey will be served in Aimsir and available in limited quantities from Cliff Home at Lyons and Cliffhome.ie for €145 a bottle.