Teeling Irish Whiskey For A Humid Evening

I was staring at my whiskey shelves recently, comtemplating what I wanted to sip. I focused in on the Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey bottle. This particular bottle was bottled in May of 2016, and my notes say I acquired it in February of 2019. It's been around awhile. Needless to say I don't frequent the Irish whiskey selections I have. Teeling seemed a fitting lighter drink for the humid evening.

Teeling Whiskey makes their Small Batch by individually aging whiskies in used bourbon barrels. The whiskies are then blended and aged for six months in rum casks. Then resulting whiskey is bottled at 46% ABV.

Upon pouring, I was immediately struck by the bright straw yellow color of the beverage. It was a marked change from the brown bourbon I am accustomed to seeing in my usual beverage. The whiskey is mild and subtle but still flavorful. I get notes of caramel and vanilla, with a very light spice. There's a dark, sweet fruit influence as well to add interest. I actually enjoyed the Teeling more than I expected, and it certainly exceeded any dim memory I have of it after so many years.

The Rocky Patel LB1 is a smoke I've been smoking more of recently. The medium bodied cigar has notes of coffee, cedar, earthiness, a touch of spice, and a mild sweetness in the finish. When I took a preview sip of the Teeling Irish Whiskey before picking a cigar, I gravitated right to the LB1 selection as a fit. My instincts were correct and the pairing was spot on. 

The high humidity fortunately did not affect the cigar, but my glass remained wet from dew. After a bit I noticed the label on the bottle was getting soggy. I topped my glass off before taking the bottle inside, increased the speed on the fan, and enjoyed the rest of the smoke.

Cheers!