Hyde 10 ~ Presidents Cask

A look at Hyde Irish Whiskey and their “Presidents Cask” 10 Year Old Single Malt

Hyde whiskey is one of the newest Cork whiskey brands to appear in the Irish market. Named after the first President of Ireland, Douglas Hyde, this new brand must not be mistaken with any other Cork distilleries, Midleton or otherwise.
Established by Conor Hyde, this new brand has focused on building its reputation through introducing itself to the consumer with a high quality offering.

Like many whiskey start ups in Ireland, Hyde have sourced their double distilled malt from Cooley distillery in county Louth. Hyde’s malt was first matured in first fill bourbon barrels for a number of years. Conor then showed great initiative by importing his own vintage sherry casks from the Andalucia region of south west Spain and used these to finish their whiskey in it for a further 9 months.

Hyde 10 year old “Presidents Cask” is a limited edition release, with only 5,000 bottles produced. This single malt boasts an impressive ABV of 46% and is non-chill filtered. It is a single distillery malt and I was very interested to see how it performed compared to the other Cooley malt offerings currently on the market.

So down the important stuff ~ My Personal Tasting Notes:

Nose: Delightfully aromatic from the moment the glass is poured. Rich dark fruits are initially dominant leading the way to banana, orange and a hint of peach. These are complemented by creamy, vanilla tones which are reinforced with nose tingling spices and a touch of oak.

Palate: Soft open leading to rich and dark fleshy fruit flavours. Creaminess remains from the nose. The strawberry and raspberry flavours are juxtaposed very nicely next to light oak notes and hints of the spice.

Finish: Medium to long finish. Oak and spice. The creaminess stays constant throughout.

This is a wonderfully complex whiskey. I was very impressed that from the moment the glass the was poured wonderful fruit aromas were evident. I quite enjoyed this both neat and with a drop of water (such blasphemy I know! :P). The water opens up the whiskey a fair amount, reducing a chunk of the spices and oak influence and revealing more of the chocolate notes hidden amongst the fruit..

Whilst this is not exactly a new release whiskey review I had initially I agreed to review this whiskey for Hibernia Distillers. Alas, due to a sample never arriving (I blame Eircode) I hadn’t had the chance to taste it. This was changed during a recent sojourn in a well stocked whiskey bar, I ordered a tipple and truly enjoyed it. I am glad that I have finally been formally introduced to Hyde whiskey. I am now looking forward to see how the brand develops with the release of “Hyde No. 2 – Rum Cask Finish – 10 Year Old” (Thanks to WhiskyBelfast for the hat tip to the new release).

The only draw back for me is the price. Currently retailing at €69.95 this pushes the boat out a little bit for a 10 year old independent bottling of a single malt. €70 can go a long way in the whiskey world and perhaps a full bottle might be just a tad rich for my blood.

Very enjoyable dram. Aromatic and spicy. Would purchase a glass again but I will have to think long and hard about a whole bottle. Regardless of the price I am very impressed by what Conor and Hibernia have achieved. They have certainly shown the other start ups in Ireland how to put your own unique stamp on aged malt.

Sláinte