Living very close to the Teeling distillery, as we currently are, I decided to do a week of reviews of Teeling’s core lineup. Things got off to a very shaky start on Monday with the Single Grain, which I really did not like. Here now is a review of the Small Batch, which is a blend of grain and malt whiskey. As to whether the grain whiskey that goes into this blend is the same as the grain in the Single Grain, I do not know. Nor am I sure of whether the malt whiskey in it is that distilled by Teeling themselves. I assume the odds are decent that it is as the Teeling distillery has now been open for about eight years. The whiskey itself is NAS and if there’s been any indication made about its purported age, I am unaware of it—I haven’t followed whisky marketing for many years now, and even when I did I was not very up on the Irish whiskey scene. As with the miniature of the Single Grain I reviewed, there’s some variance between this miniature and the Small Batch as currently described on the distillery’s website. There it is said to be finished for up to 12 months in rum casks; this label definitively notes a 6-month rum finish (after initial aging in bourbon casks). As to whether the duration of the finish varies from batch to batch, I do not know. I’m also beginning to wonder if there are any Teeling releases that don’t involve maturation or finishes in non-traditional casks.

By the way, I have reviewed a Teeling Small Batch release before. That was all the way back in 2016 and was of a release from 2014 or so. I did not like that one very much—though I did like it more than Monday’s Single Grain. I assume this miniature purchased just last week has very different contents inside it, though it is made in a similar way: that earlier release had also received a 6 month rum finish. Anyway, let’s see what this is like.

Teeling Small Batch (46%; rum cask finish; from a miniature)

Nose: Quite a lot of cereal along with sweet notes that seem floral in nature. As it sits there’s some stewed apple and a hint of aniseed (that would be the rum, I guess). With time there’s some cream and some berries in there as well. Water pushes the floral notes and the rum influence back further, with the sweet notes now reminiscent of cotton candy.

Palate: Leads with sweetness here as well but now it’s less floral and more sugarcane-driven (the rum influence is quite pronounced). Decent bite and texture at 46%. Spicier notes on the second sip (some clove, some cinnamon) along with brown sugar. With time the rum influence subsides a bit and there’s more sign of the grain whiskey—and, alas, some of that artificial/chemical sweetness I found in the Single Grain. Okay, let’s see what water does for it. It pushes the rum back further here as well and emphasizes the grains/cereals.

Finish: Medium. Oak emerges here as the sweeter notes subside and it picks up some bitter tannins. Less bitter with water.

Comments: Well, I liked this much better than Monday’s Single Grain (and also the previous iteration of the Small Batch). As to whether that’s due more to the mellowing effect of the malt component or because of the rum finish, I don’t know, but I am now looking forward to trying the Single Malt more than I was yesterday.

Rating: 80 points.