Spirits

Oisin Davis on spirits: The expensive allure of the silent distillery

So-called silent distilleries will never make whiskey again, and the remaining bottles made there have earned almost mythical status among connoisseurs

Midleton master distiller Kevin O’Gorman: ‘These bottlings are exceptionally aged whiskeys, meaning a large portion has been lost to evaporation during maturation’

Be warned: reading this piece may trigger some price tag-related wobbles. The reason is that I’m focusing on some of the most highly desired whiskey bottles on the planet. They all have one thing in common: they were made in distilleries that no longer exist, more commonly known as silent distilleries.

In the eyes of whiskey fans and collectors, silent distilleries have a mythical status because the spirits they once produced cannot be replicated. Never ...