About this SPIRIT
Cooley Distillery
Cooley is the only Irish whiskey distillery established in the entire 20th century and is now the only Irish-owned independent whiskey distillery. It is located in the north-east of Dundalk and is also known by its old name John Locke's. The plant was designed originally for the production of neutral spirit from potatoes with the production being switched over to whiskey with the acquisition through Cooley's in 1989.
It produces many different whiskeys, including single malts and blends. The distillery bottlings are Tyrconnel (single malt), Kilbeggan (blend), and Connemara (peated-smoked single malt). Apart from brands Cooley provides a full range of Irish whiskeys to 23 of the top 25 retailers in Europe. Cooley also distils quality whiskeys such as Knappoque, Clontarf, Brennans and Hennessy for international drinks companies.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
Craoi na móna is pronounced “Cree Na Mona" and in Gaelic means Heart of the Peat Bog.
Peat has traditionally been used in the drying of barley in both Ireland and Scotland and it is normally this process that lends a ‘peated’ whiskey its distinctive smokiness. In reality there is another way to add a smoky smack to whiskey: Finishing. This is what we have done with this batch of Craoi na Móna. In fact, after maturing for 10 years in Ireland in American Oak casks we shipped it over to Scotland where it spent a few short months in casks that had previously matured heavily peated Islay malt. These casks, though emptied, still retained a huge smokiness we wanted to bottle. We weren’t sure what would happen, but are categorically pleased with the results. We hope you agree that the heart of this Irish whiskey is greatly enriched by its smoky, peated character.
Nose: Good hint of peat. Charred wood and some burnt grassy notes- flowers, bracken and ferns. A little yellow fruit- lemon meringue, sugared almonds and some rhubarb.
Palate: Very smooth with some sweetness building to control the peat-smoke and medicinal notes. Peaches and cream, orange citrus and rosehip.
Finish: Quite long, smooth and moreish.
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