Should you’re a beer lover, then the title Duvel gained’t want an introduction. This devilish beer is among the benchmark Belgian robust ales. Duvel is produced by the Moortgat household in Breendonk, at merely 3 km from my home. This household brewery has a wealthy historical past going again over 150 years.
Since a couple of years Irish distillery Teeling has a two-way partnership with Duvel. One the one hand they supplied whiskey barrels used to mature Batch 7 of the Duvel Barrel Aged beer. This beer was offered in 2022 after spending 8 months within the wooden. Probably the most profitable editions of the sequence.
Teeling Small Batch with a Duvel beer end
After that the batch of 400 casks (every 200-litre) moved in the wrong way, ending up in Dublin. Teeling used the ex-Duvel barrels to complete the bottom spirit of its Teeling Small Batch whiskey. In 2024 this turns into Teeling Duvel Cask. It’s really the third version of this collab already, however it wasn’t made clear how they differ precisely. The tip result’s round 6-7 years previous.
Two weeks in the past I used to be invited to the Duvel brewery for a tour and a tasting. Teeling Grasp Distiller Alex Chasko flew over for the event. As a beer brewer who turned a whiskey distiller, he’s fairly obsessed with working with Duvel.
Teeling Duvel Cask is a joint bottling restricted to 18.000 bottles. It should solely be out there within the Benelux international locations and the Nordics. It’s out there as we communicate, for round € 50.
Teeling Belgian Ale Casks – Duvel (46%, OB 2024, Batch #3, 18.000 btl.)
Nostril: a fruity sourness and tangy lemon stands out, with apple aromas and hints of orange marmalade. Then loads of mild malty / bready notes, a touch of vanilla and whiffs of white pepper. Lighter and barely extra high-pitched than the usual Small Batch, which is clearly richer and sweeter compared.
Mouth: I do know the beer, however with out the title on the label I wouldn’t acknowledge it. Loads of lemons up entrance, with some white nectarines and a beneficiant quantity of grainy notes once more. Then a light-weight trace of coconut and vanilla, earlier than it strikes in the direction of grapefruit and delicate oak spice. Refined white pepper and natural notes.
End: relatively brief, with extra malty sweetness but in addition a tangy astringency. Gentle gingerbread ultimately.
Beer finishes are sometimes a little bit problematic for my part. Everybody appears to agree it fits whisk(e)y nicely as a result of each drinks share the identical uncooked supplies. To me that’s usually what makes the tip outcome too overlapping and uninspiring. After all Teeling has some expertise with cask administration, so I’ve to agree the tip result’s nicely balanced in itself.
Nevertheless, the opposite drawback is the truth that the usual Small Batch is already completed (in rum casks). As soon as you place the Duvel version subsequent to it, it feels as if the beer end was subtractive relatively than additive. With the standard rummy sweetness lacking, you get a extra impartial and lean tackle Teeling’s spirit. Opposite to a Stout or an IPA (utilized in earlier beer finishes from this distillery) Duvel itself is a relatively impartial and grainy beer, making the whiskey smoother however not essentially extra thrilling. Total good to do this whiskey with little or no make-up, however for my part it’s not essentially the most thrilling Teeling ever.
