New: The Irishman Founder's Reserve with Caribbean rum finish

Dr. Heinz | 14. July 2018

The Walsh Whiskey Distillery introduces a new limited expression of its triple-distilled Founder's Reserve, finished in rum casks from the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia

The Irish Walsh Whiskey Distillery has released the second bottling of its The Irishman Founder's Reserve Cask series. This is a limited edition of a whiskey initially matured in ex-Bourbon barrels, refined in rum casks from the small tropical Caribbean island of Saint Lucia: The Irishman Founder's Reserve Caribbean Cask Finish. This premium whiskey is a quite unique triple distilled Irish whiskey, as it is a blend of 70% single malt and 30% single pot still Irish whiskey and was finally finished for 6 months in so-called Chairman's Reserve Rum casks.

Casks from Saint Lucia

In 2014, the founder of Walsh Whiskey Distillery, Bernard Walsh, travelled to the Caribbean in search of rare casks to give a special expression to his original whiskey. They were found on the small island of Saint Lucia, an island state belonging to the archipelago of the Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean. Founded in 1932 and still family-run, Saint Lucia Distillers has been producing a rum that represents the iconic style of Saint Lucian rum since 1999: The Chairman's Reserve Rum. This is a blend of well-aged rums distilled in copper pot stills as well as Coffee column stills, matured separately in oak casks and finally combined and refined.

Limited to 12 casks

In Saint Lucia, Bernard selected 12 hand-picked oak casks, which were then filled with the Chairman's Reserve Rum for at least 2 years. In autumn 2017 these casks were brought empty to Ireland, where The Irishman Founder's Reserve was allowed to mature for another 6 months. The resulting Caribbean Cask Finish Whiskey is limited to just 12 casks with 380 bottles per cask. Bottled at 46% abv, each bottle is individually numbered and signed by Bernard Walsh. This premium whiskey is only available in 7 selected international markets namely: Ireland (including Dublin Airport), USA, Canada, Russia, France, The Netherlands and Germany as well as, locally, in the Walsh Whiskey Distillery at Royal Oak in Ireland.