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This is in the northern outskirt of Kansas City, MO, that started in March 2016 this Irish-American whiskey distillery.

BACKGROUND:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Irish roots are coming by the blood, the owner’s great-great-grandfather immigrated from Ireland to the United States in 1853, and by the spirit: the Shannon family has the genes of innovation in their DNA.

They are making Vodka, Gin and Whiskey: let’s focus on the latter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE MAKING:

The master piece of the distillery is the copper pot still:  it has a capacity of 500 gallons and features the gooseneck-shaped head that you would find in the distilleries of Ireland. This is the only one I have ever seen in the United States (OK, I have still some distilleries to visit though) and shows the strong will to reproduce the traditional Irish way to make whiskey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They use malted barley from Wisconsin and they store the spirit in small 10-gallon barrels of white oak from Colorado to allow a faster interaction with the wood.

You can see in the picture below how fast the spirit is aging by the color it takes overtime, showing the wood effect to the spirit, from the distillation to 26 weeks.

For the time being, they blend their matured spirit with an Irish whiskey coming from the famous Teeling distillery, located in Ireland close to Dublin. The result is called “Stone breaker” that I will describe later on. The young distillery plan to fill charred new oak barrels as well as full-size used bourbon casks to get closer to what the Irish traditionally do. They expect to release their very first single malt whisky in 2019: stay tuned as it is very promising!

Time to go to the tasting:

TASTING:

Stone breaker, malted blend, 46% ABV. It is blended from a Teeling whisky directly imported from this Irish distillery, and then matured together 6 months in quarter casks.

Nose: light, honey and oak

Palate: sweet, oaky and vanilla

Finish: short, sweet, maple syrup?

Sons of Erin, 46% ABV, single malt imported from Teeling, Dublin after 4 years of maturation in ex-bourbon casks, then matured an additional two months in quarter casks at the Restless Spirit distillery.

Nose: smooth and fruity

Palate: Apple comes strong

Finish: rather short and sweet

Sons of Erin, 15 years, 46% ABV, imported from Teeling distillery

Nose: fruity: apple mainly, with hints of rhubarb (quite unique!)

Palate: sweet, some hints on exotic fruit

Finish: medium, still sweetness

MY TAKE ON IT:

On top of the nice tour I took, I acquired a bottle of Stone breaker. Worth to get, and I am still working on it to find the perfect food combination. I am hopeful I will find at least one pair!

Don’t hesitate to pay a visit to the Restless Spirit distillery to see how the people there are displaying their passion. You will surely spend good time over there: they have a nice bar and organize events from time to time.

Contact:

Restless Spirits Distilling,
109 E. 18th Ave., North Kansas City,
Tel: 816-645-8312,
email: restlessspiritsdistilling.com

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