Pernod Ricard’s Irish Distillers division has added another aged expression to the Redbreast Irish whiskey brand’s core line.
Redbreast 18 Year Old comes four years after the 27-year-old joined the brand’s permanent range, which now stands at four. Like its siblings, the whiskey is a single pot still iteration produced at Irish Distiller’s facility in Midleton near Cork, home to Pernod Ricard’s Jameson brand.
For the first time, the unit has included the use of ex-cream sherry casks to Redbreast’s production process. The new whiskey has been matured in a combination of ex-oloroso sherry butts, ex-bourbon barrels, ex-ruby port casks and former cream sherry casks sourced from the Antonio Páez Lobato cooperage in Jerez, Spain.
With an ABV of 46%, Redbreast 18 Year Old goes on sale this week domestically in Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Persian Gulf, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the UK and US as well as in global travel retail. The SRP has been set at US$249.
“We wanted to unlock a new taste profile for the Redbreast permanent range while still offering something that feels distinctly Redbreast in its style,” said master blender David McCabe. “This expression not only honours our heritage but also showcases our commitment to innovation in Irish whiskey making.”
The Midleton distillery is in the middle of a four-year investment programme that will improve its environmental credentials while also doubling production capacity. Speaking to Global Drinks Intel at Redbreast’s launch event at Midleton this week, McCabe said the capacity increase from the current 70m litres of pure alcohol will be in place for 2027. As well as featuring two extra stillhouses, the site will also grow its 2m-barrels warehousing footprint on purpose-purchased land adjacent to the current distillery.
