Small Batch Vs Single Batch

So what does ‘Small Batch’ actually mean? To be honest it means whatever the hell you want it to mean. This is why we’ve come up with a whole new concept – Single Batch.

So what’s a ‘Single Batch’? Simple. Each 50-litre cask of new make spirit starts life at approx. 500-litre batch of wort.

Do the maths: one batch + two distillations = one cask.

Now as each 50 litre cask takes the guts of a week to make, this isn’t a very economical way of making whisky. But on the upside, as each batch is one of a kind, it means each mash bill can also be unique. So this is an experiment in taste and tradition.

Casks ready for action
Casks ready for action

Over the next 9 months, we will produce 50 x 50-litre casks, each of these a single batch. Then we close the Cappoquin distillery.

At our new distillery in Ballyduff, we will produce whisky on a commercial scale, so it’s not likely this single-batch experiment will ever, ever be repeated.

What will we distil? That’s up to you. We will make the first 50 casks of single-batch whisky ordered. Already 4 have gone; one to a Michelin Starred Chef, one to a banker, one to the company directors, and one to a rather stellar American pop-type person. So only 46 left and when they’re gone, well you know the drill.

A 50-litre cask has many advantages, firstly you get a greater wood-to-spirited ratio, in other words, more wood for your money. On the downside, you get a greater rate of evaporation in a 50-litre than a 220-litre cask, but that is more than offset by the relative speed of maturation.

So that’s the plan.

50 batches. 50 x 50 litre casks of single batch Irish whisky in either re-build sherry wood or bourbon casks.

As for the juice itself? We’re offering Single Malt, Pot Still Irish and some historic casualties. You know mash mills that were in their day pot still whiskies, but now (thanks to the scandalous Irish pot still whisky GI) can no longer be called pot still (though they can still be Irish whisky). Full details to be released soonish…

Consider yourself on notice. As soon as Revenue signs off on our GI status we’ll be offering these 46 casks on a first come first served basis.