SMALL-BATCH DELIGHTS
Shimmering Silk
Just in time to celebrate St Patrick’s Day, the SMWS is releasing an Irish whiskey created in collaboration with the team at Dunville’s Irish Whiskey. The Society’s Julien Willems has more on how Shimmering Silk came about, and why it’s one to savour – whatever the time of year
Though distillation in Scotland and Ireland likely started in much the same way, the techniques and traditions grew apart over the centuries, with different styles of distillates and flavours enshrined in modern law as a result.
As I’m all too fond of saying, it’s all good fun and precious knowledge to take a casual stroll down the path not taken. It’s often where you’ll find unexpected treasures and the inspiration to re-think, re-work and evolve…or to simply admire a different craftsmanship of some art you were always told was constrained by laws immutable.
So, when the opportunity arose to work with Dunville’s Irish Whiskey, we were delighted to tap into their blending expertise to create something quite unusual. Stephen Magennis, global head of sales at Dunville’s, explains: “Dunville’s whiskey dates back to the 1800s and we purchased it with the aim of bringing one of the biggest whiskies in the world back to life, and to the forefront of the Irish whiskey industry.”
If you remember our XO cognac collaboration A trifle delightful you’ll know that this isn’t the first time the Society has benefitted from the blending expertise of a company it partners with. Well, Shimmering Silk is the first attempt to do so with a single malt whisk(e)y. And indeed, the very first single malt Irish whiskey to join our series of ‘heretical’ small-batch blended offerings in clear glass.
No, it’s not a single cask, but it was put together especially for members of the Society, and by the snouts of a thousand selkies, what a dram it is! The closest I’ve come to these flavours was while sampling the Society’s Irish bottling Cask No. 117.3: Hubba-bubba, mango and Monstera in 2016, during my time at the Society’s Queen Street bar. Shimmering Silk may only be half the age of that iconic offering, but it offers a treasure trove of tropical fruit and luscious lashings of sherry. Mix in some heather and lavender honey and you’re not far off. But you get the idea, it’s one for the history books… ours anyway.
There is something eminently satisfying to be found in the association of a ludicrously tropical and floral distillate with the resinous, opulent darkness of Pedro Ximénez sherry. Regarding these casks, Stephen explains: “We have chosen to use PX casks extensively. We use other types of sherry casks too, of course, but PX in particular are what defines us.”
Stephen also shares that sourcing these PX casks is already a solid piece of work in and of itself. “We are a relatively small company, considering the giants out there. We don’t take anything for granted and we work directly with select partners to source the absolute best casks. Wood management is key and all casks are new, only fresh sherry casks from the best bodegas. We do not have the means to compete with bigger companies on marketing, so we let our whiskey do the talking.”
“We wanted to offer something slightly different though, so we went with an 11-year-old whiskey. We do not have that age statement on our shelves, so it is a bit of a twist for Society members to discover”
“PX is what we do. And this is what our customers and fans around the world have come to love and expect. In that spirit, we wanted to share the joy of our Dunville’s PX 10-year-old with the Society. We wanted to offer something slightly different though, so we went with an 11-year-old whiskey. We do not have that age statement on our shelves, so it is a bit of a twist for Society members to discover. Moreover, we had never produced such a small volume batch, but when we got down to it, it was great fun.”
So what else is there about this single malt that Society members might find alluring? “When we do our own blending projects, we select a handful of fun casks out of thousands, so when the SMWS came knocking, we knew we had to select the maddest among those great casks. For us it was an honour, to be honest, as a few of us have been Society members for quite some time,” Stephen adds.
Flavour wise, he says: “We love the spirit we used for Dunville’s, and the journey it undergoes to become the delightful whiskey we put in our own bottles.”
The three casks selected for the Society arrived at Dunville’s as four-year olds maturing in first-fill bourbon casks. “As we wanted to give these whiskeys the best start in life, we transferred them to fresh bourbon barrels anyway,” remembers Stephen.
In total, they matured for eight years in first-fill bourbon barrels and were characterised by fresh flavours of starburst sweets. “After this, we transferred them to PX casks, which added a lot of richness. The result is a whiskey that is always chasing the sherry, but it will never be a sherry bomb,” explains Stephen.
Having tasted this exceptional tipple, I’d say that it’s not simply that there’s a lot to look forward to with Shimmering Silk. It’s also worth considering that accessing stocks of mature Irish single malt these days is incredibly difficult, so Society members are very fortunate to be able to enjoy such a rare bottling.
Explore more recent releases from the Heresy collection in this Unfiltered article from August 2023.