‘An rud is annamh is iontach!’

A Special Evening at Ristorante Rinuccini with Midleton Distillery - and a special guest post from The Whiskey Cat!

Thursday 25th July saw Kilkenny Whiskey Guild gather to welcome two prominent figures of the Irish whiskey industry & honoured guests to the Marble City for an incredible Midleton whiskey-inspired six-course dinner at the beautiful Ristorante Rinuccini in the city centre.

A welcome cocktail greeted guests who quickly settled into their seats, in eager anticipation of what was to come. Cyril Briscoe introduced the guests for the evening and also made the wonderful announcement that the Red Book of Ossory (#thefirstdrop) was finally returned to St. Canice’s Cathedral for display! A genuinely momentous occasion and wonderful to see this important historical tome returned to its birthplace.

Kevin O'Gorman with Riccardo Cavalieri

Introductions followed from Riccardo Cavaliere, Kevin O’Gorman and Dave McCabe and guests were in no doubt that an impressive whiskey-paired meal was in store. The carefully curated, delicious menu meticulously designed by the Chefs at the restaurant was paired with some exceptional & innovative whiskeys from the impressive vaults at Midleton distillery, all of which were carefully handpicked by Dave McCabe, Kevin O'Gorman & Andrew Dickey for the evening.

The meal started with a Traditional Sicilian Arancini and was paired with a Gold Spot 13yo, cask strength! Aged in Bourbon, Sherry & Veronese Valpolicella casks, this cask draw was presented at 56.7% and was generally regarded as an incredible whiskey on the night. A slightly different profile to the commercial release at 46% was noted, for me there were more pronounced dark stone fruit notes and even with the addition of a small drop of water it still maintained a lengthier finish.

Next on the menu was a freshly made Raviolo, filled with roast duck & porcini mushroom, brown butter sauce & fresh Italian black truffle (which was specially sourced by the restaurant for the dish). It was paired with a measure of the Redbreast Kentucky Oak Edition, a Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey, finished in casks made of Virgin American Oak sourced from the Taylor Family Farm, in Danville, Kentucky. Bottled at 50.5% abv, it was more mellow than I remember from a previous tasting – but still had that deliciously different vanilla profile, which can give the Oloroso-influenced versions a good run for their money! Apologies to all the ‘sherry bomb’ afficionados out there!

We were also honoured to be joined by Martha and Steve Taylor who by happy coincidence were holidaying in Ireland. It was wonderful to hear about the background to the collaboration between them and Midleton in bringing about the Kentucky Oak release, their efforts on forestry sustainability and the plans for the future. Much more to come in this space as the distillery continues to seek out new collaborative projects.

After a good group discussion with Kevin on the influences of various cask types, we were served the next course which was a Carnaroli risotto dish, with baked Kilkenny beetroot, DOP Taleggio cheese and Candied Walnuts. It was paired with a 22yo Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey Cream Sherry Cask. Bonded 2001 in an ex-Bourbon cask, it was then re-casked into a Sherry butt in 2008 and was presented at 56.4% abv. on the night. Readers may well have tried a younger iteration of this which was released as part of the Midleton Barrel Club programme. That was quite an innovative release as Dave explained, cream sherry has unfortunately diminished in stature over the years, however if you trust your nose & your palate you won’t go wrong – and they certainly didn’t go wrong with this whiskey. Age suits it very well indeed, and there were more than a few calls for it to be release commercially.

This was followed by a roast Irish Pork Belly, stuffed & rolled with garlic & fresh herbs, Marsala wine reduction - a beautiful dish which seemed to disappear too quickly! It was paired with a remarkable 22yo Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey, finished in a Bluebell Wood Irish Oak Hogshead from Kilkenny. Readers will I’m sure already recognise the Dair Ghaelach pedigree. It was bonded in 2002 in a Bourbon cask, then re-casked into the Irish Oak cask in 2015 and presented by Kevin at 57.2% abv.

Onwards towards some cheese! And we were served some very tasty Tomma Brilla cheese from Piemonte and Gorgonzola DOP from Lombardy. These were paired with a remarkable whiskey in terms of its provenance; a 6yo Single Estate, Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey, as both the barley used for the distillate and the oak used to create the Hogshead cask were sourced from the Gabot estate in Kilkenny! The whiskey was bonded in 2018 and presented at 61.9% abv. on the night. Quite a first for Irish whiskey and it was very well received on the night!

Midleton Master Blender Dave McCabe and Master Distiller Kevin O'Gorman

Finally, the sweet course, and we were presented with a medley of scrumptious homemade Italian deserts. But what to pair them with? Well, if you go sweet then you need to pair sweeter and what could be more delicious than a Redbreast Dream Cask? Dave kindly guided us through the Dream Cask programme and the specific evolution of the final whiskey we were to try that night, the 38yo Dream Cask Zenith Edition. What can I say, except what an amazing way to finish the evening!

Many thanks to the KWG organisers, to Kevin, Dave & Andrew from Midleton for sharing such an incredible array of whiskeys and to the Team at Rinuccini’s for the delectable menu!

‘An rud is annamh is iontach!’ (What's rare is wonderful!)

John.