Midleton Very Rare
Midleton Very Rare began with Barry Crockett in 1984 as an annual series of Irish whiskey vintages. It is a blend of single pot still and single grain whiskeys, not a single pot still whiskey on its own. Each vintage is a new blend rather than a repeat of the previous release, with choices of whiskey style and cask helping to shape its character.
Crockett was the master distiller when he created the series. His connection to Midleton began at home: he was born in the distiller’s cottage and later succeeded his father as master distiller. He is now master distiller emeritus. His first vintage drew on 32 casks of whiskey aged roughly nine to 13 years, a selection that established the annual series.
The first vintage
The 1984 vintage did not appear in 1984. It was launched in a new warehouse at Midleton on a wet day in November 1985. John Bruton, then Minister for Industry and Commerce, attended. The new Midleton distillery had been commissioned about a decade earlier. The reason for the difference between the vintage year and the launch year is not reliably established in the supplied record.
Midleton Very Rare was planned as an annual series from the outset. That distinction matters when looking at the first vintage: 1984 names a particular release, while the series continued with a second vintage in 1985. The 1985 release had a strong grain element, illustrating that grain whiskey was part of the blend early in the series.
The series sits within the history of Irish Distillers, formed in 1966 by the merger of John Power & Son, John Jameson & Son and Cork Distilleries Company. Irish Distillers joined Pernod Ricard in 1988. Those dates place the creation of Midleton Very Rare between the formation of Irish Distillers and its joining Pernod Ricard.
Whiskey and cask selection
The combination of single pot still and single grain whiskeys is central to understanding Midleton Very Rare. Calling it a single pot still whiskey leaves out the grain component. The balance between those components can change from one vintage to another, as can the selection of pot still styles and casks used in a blend.
The pot still styles available for selection include light, medium and heavy. These descriptions provide a way to distinguish the whiskeys chosen for a vintage. They also help explain why two releases in the same annual series need not have identical compositions, even though both are blends of pot still and grain whiskeys.
Cask selection also evolved after the first vintage. The choice grew from the original 32 casks to about 100, with a core of first fill American oak. The figures describe the selection used for the blend, not the number of bottles released. The number of bottles in each annual vintage is not reliably established in the supplied record.
Midleton uses cask codes that help explain the selection. B1 means first fill, B2 means second fill and B3 means third fill. These codes appear in accounts of particular vintages, including the 2022 and 2024 releases. They are useful distinctions when comparing the casks selected for different blends.
Brendan Monks, master of maturation, set up cask sources in Porto, Madeira and Sicily, as well as in Jerez with Antonio Paez. Those sources form part of the wider cask story at Midleton. They should not be taken to mean that every annual vintage contains whiskey from every type of cask sourced there.
Three master distillers
Crockett remained master distiller until his retirement in 2014. Brian Nation followed him, and Kevin O’Gorman became master distiller in 2020. The series therefore has three master distillers in its history: Crockett, Nation and O’Gorman. Each is associated with vintages made during his tenure, rather than with an unchanging recipe carried through every year.
The 2013 vintage was Crockett’s last. O’Gorman’s first was the 2021 vintage, which used more grain whiskey. The difference is one example of how a vintage can change while remaining recognisably part of the same series. It also makes the description of Midleton Very Rare as a blend important when discussing an individual release.
O’Gorman has described the challenge of following an inaugural release with another vintage: “The second album is always the most difficult.” His comment concerned his second vintage, the 2022 release. It captures the task of making another annual blend after a first, without suggesting that the two vintages had to be identical.
He has also explained why variation belongs to the series: “If the vintage was the same from year to year, it just wouldn’t be a vintage then.” That is a useful correction to the idea that every bottle carrying the Midleton Very Rare name contains the same blend. Each vintage is selected separately.
The 2022 and 2024 vintages
The 2022 vintage was the 39th in the series. Its component whiskeys ranged from 12 to 33 years old and had matured in first fill and second fill ex bourbon barrels. No B3 casks, meaning third fill casks, were used. It was made as a single vatting in January 2022 and bottled at 40% abv.
Those details distinguish the 2022 release from a general description of the series. The age range belongs to that vintage, as do its cask selection and January vatting. They should not be assumed to apply to every Midleton Very Rare release. The annual format allows the master distiller to make different choices for another year.
The 2024 vintage used more grain whiskey, more medium pot still whiskey and more B1 barrels. Like the 2022 vintage, it was bottled at 40% abv. Its selection offers another illustration of change within the series: the increase in grain and medium pot still whiskey describes the blend for that release, not a permanent rule for subsequent vintages.
Comparing 2022 and 2024 also shows why the cask codes are useful. The 2022 selection excluded B3 casks, while the 2024 account notes more B1 barrels. These are different statements about different releases. Neither should be turned into a claim that all vintages use the same proportions or the same cask fills.
The Ruby Edition
The 40th Anniversary Ruby Edition was released in 2024. It brought together whiskeys blended by Crockett in 2005, Nation in 2015 and O’Gorman in 2021. In that sense, the release connects all three master distillers through their work, rather than simply commemorating them on a label.
The whiskeys were married for nine months in a B1 ruby Port pipe. Some of the spirit dates back to the early 1980s. The release comprised 550 bottles at 53.1% abv, a different strength from the 40% abv recorded for the 2022 and 2024 annual vintages.
Waterford Crystal made the Ruby Edition decanter. Its four point crystal represents the four decades being marked by the release. A separate, one off bottle was made with Keanes Jewellers of Cork and had 32 rubies in its neck collar. That individual bottle should be distinguished from the wider edition of 550 bottles.
The Ruby Edition is a way to follow the series across its three master distillers, but it is not a substitute for the annual vintages. Its components were blended in three different years and then married in a ruby Port pipe. The annual releases have their own selections, such as the casks chosen for the 2022 vintage.
Reading the vintage
The most useful starting point for any Midleton Very Rare release is its year. The 1984 vintage was the first, although it was launched in November 1985. The 1985 vintage was the second, 2013 was Crockett’s last, and 2021 was O’Gorman’s first. Each date identifies a particular blend within the annual series.
The next questions are which whiskeys and casks went into that blend. Pot still and grain both belong in the description, while the balance and cask choices can vary. Where details are available, as for 2022 and 2024, they describe those vintages rather than an exact formula for the series as a whole.
Sources
- Midleton Very Rare, Crafting Excellence: The Master Distillers of Midleton Very Rare.
- Master of Malt, Midleton Very Rare: 40 Years of Irish Whiskey at its Best.
- Decanter, Midleton Very Rare has unveiled its 39th vintage.