Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day, so for this occasion, I will be posting reviews of Irish whiskeys all week. And I’m kicking off with the Hyde No.4 President’s Cask, which is a 6-year-old single malt whiskey finished in dark Caribbean rum casks.
Hyde whiskey is bottled by Hibernia Distillers, which is actually not a distillery but a bottler. So Hyde whiskey isn’t Hyde but is, therefore, sourced from a distillery somewhere else in Ireland. Do you still follow? π
Contrary to what we are used to from, for example, Scottish or Dutch bottlers, Irish bottlers often do not indicate where the whiskey comes from. They just release it under their own brand name rather than naming what’s actually in the bottle. Strange when you think about it, but in Ireland, this is actually quite common.
And Hyde is really not the only one who bottles their whiskey in this way. Think of J.J. Corry, The Quiet Man, but also young distilleries such as Glendalough and Pearse Lyon buy their whiskey elsewhere since their own whiskey is still too young to release. It’s just the way it goes in Ireland, but if you don’t know that, and these are still a lot of people, it can be a bit misleading.
Anyway, I’m digressing, so let’s get back to this Hyde Whiskey. As I already told you Hyde Whiskey is a label from Hibernia Distillers, a company based in Skibereen, West Cork. It was founded in 2014 by the brothers Alan and Conor Hyde. Initially, there was talk of opening a distillery, hence the name, but so far this hasn’t happened and so they still bottle sourced whiskey under their Hyde Label. Currently, they have released 7 different whiskeys, 3 of which I’ve reviewed here, but today the focus is on this Hyde No.4 President’s Cask.
This Hyde has matured in American oak before being finished in dark rum casks, bottled at 46% ABV.
Hyde No.4 President’s Cask tasting notes:
Nose: Bananas! And plenty of it. Passion fruit. Then vanilla custard and caramel. A touch of powdering sugar. Cinnamon. Oats. And a hint of fresh pears.
Taste: It’s a little thin and a bit watery. Somewhat malty. More bananas. And quite the bitter edge, which is a little off. Vanilla. A hint of mango in the very background. A rum note in the very end.
Finish: Rather short. A bit bitter and some spices. Brown sugar. Vanilla too.
The nose is rather lovely, but it loses some points on the taste and finish. It’s a bit flat and thin and there is this bitter edge. Quite sweet at some points too, almost too sweet, which is probably the work of the rum cask.
Many thanks to Hyde for the bottle!
