In the world of Irish whiskies there may be brands a-plenty yet there are relatively few full functioning distilleries that have been around for decades. This is because back in the 1970s the Irish Distillers company decided to close most of their distilleries and create the Jameson Midleton Distillery with its ability to produce a range of styles using its 4 pot stills, 7 column stills for grain, malt and as combined together blends. It was opened in 1975 and since then brings to the world Jameson. Redbreast, Powers, Tullamore Dew, Paddy, Green Spot, Yellow Spot and yes Midleton.

While initially stock from the old Midleton Distillery was used in the Midleton Very Rare  in the mid-1980s, today it is purely whiskey from the current Jameson Midleton Distillery… and more and more what is being released are pot still expressions like this one.

So then who is Barry Crocket? He is their Master Distiller Emeritus … Son of Midleton’s them master distiller, he joined the distillery in 1981 and continued for nearly 50 years…  from when the Irish whiskey industry was struggling to clearly making its mark around the world. And today? He is establishing an archive in the house where he was born on Midleton’s distilling history.

For us, it was a complete mystery… sampled blind with no idea what we were trying…  Here is what we found…

Midleton Barry Crocket Legacy 16 year No 10205 46% American Bourbon seasoned and unseasoned, triple distilled, non chill filtered. MSPR’16 L623631258

• Colour – Bright yellow
• Nose – Initially quite fruity, caramel, vanilla, lots of apricots, apple sauce, then shifted into dark chocolate, a bit sour then citrus tang, green apples, lots of honey. Then revealed wood, cumin, caraway seeds, melon seeds… then orange citrus candies.. Then all the intense colours and notes were gone…. After time, perfumes emerged, like scented rubber, then sweet banana synthetic candies, then pine… talcum powder vs sweetened egg yolk… finally fresh tobacco leaf
• Palate – Honey spice and simply delicious, more of those apples, pears, sweet with white and black pepper, wood, sesame oil and light tobacco, over time it became creamier
• Finish – There but… completely deceptive. Initially a few remarked there wasn’t much but then… hold it… definitely 100% there… subtle, lightly bitter and gently fruity, long, very long
• Water – Add and some found it opened up, bringing more body, spice and perfume. Some preferred with water. Some preferred it au naturel.

What a remarkable nose – it kept going through different quite dramatically different shifts.

Overall we were convinced this was simply one well crafted whisky. It had a fruity floral no fooling around quality. What fun!

What do they have to say about Barry Crocket Legacy?

• Nose – Elegant aroma of vanilla and toasted oak completed by succulent green berries, pears and green sweet pepper
• Taste – Light pepper carries onto citrus, limes and mandarine orange sweetness. A hint of cinnamon with vanilla and oak revelasyears spent in American oak
• Finish – The full spectrum of flavours that lasts well into th finish slowly fading to expose the clean American oak foundation

You can still find this whisky from retailers like The Whisky Exchange for approx £150

What trio did we have a tryst with in our Untraditional Pedigree Malts eve?

• From Ireland – Midleton Barry Crocket Legacy No 10205 46%
• From Australia – Sullivans Cove 16 year (2000/2016) 47.5%
• From Campbeltown – Kilkerran 8 years Cask Strength 56.2%

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