The Colonel Thomas J. Cunningham Jr. Division Welcomes You to the Inaugural Exceptional Irish Whiskey Taste Testing and Dinner at O’Faolain’S Pub!
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The Colonel Thomas J. Cunningham Jr. Division welcomes you to the Inaugural Exceptional Irish Whiskey Taste Testing and Dinner at O’Faolain’s Pub! February 1, 2018, The Feast of St. Brigid This gathering is a fund raiser for our Military Chaplains under the leadership of Arch Bishop Timothy Broglio. Fr. James Hinkle, currently the Vicar at St. Theresa Parish in Ashburn, is a Military Chaplain and will be returning to Military service shortly. Fr. Jim, Thank you for your service. Aside from the proceeds from our ticket sales for Taste Testing and Dinner tonight, The Division will conduct a Silent Auction for a Round of Golf for Four at Lansdowne in 2018 – 100% of the winning bid will go to our Military Chaplains. Further, a new Division of the LAOH, soon to be known as the Daughters of Erin, will be selling 50/50 tickets this evening with 50% of the proceeds going to our Military Chaplains. We hope to make this evening the “first of many” over time. For those newly acquainted to the Ancient Order of Hibernians, We are an Irish Catholic fraternal organization; members must be Catholic and either born in Ireland or of Irish descent. Its largest membership is now in the United States, where it was founded in New York City in 1836. Its name was adopted by groups of Irish immigrants in the United States,[1] its purpose to act as guards to protect Catholic churches from anti-Catholic forces in the mid- 19th century, and to assist Irish Catholic immigrants, especially those who faced discrimination or harsh coal mining working conditions. AOH Motto: Friendship, Unity, & Christian Charity Cairdis, agus Aontacht Chríostaí Carthanai The exceptional dinner is prepared and hosted by Brother Francis Thornton and his fine crew at O’Faolain’s Pub. O’Faolain’s has been a friend of the Hibernians for years! Thank you! This evening’s offerings…………. Green Spot 10 year Old Bicentenary Edition: A Single Pot Still whiskey which was released in a limited batch of 100 bottles to commemorate 200 years in business for the creators of the Spot Whiskeys, Mitchell & Son Wine Merchants. Mitchell & Son, now in their 7th generation, are Ireland's longest running wine merchants and they created the Spot Whiskeys, Blue, Green, Yellow, and Red Spot in the 1930's. The spots were used to signify the age of the whiskey, as in their bonded warehouse they would paint a colored spot on the cask to mark the age. Blue for 7 years, Green for 10, Yellow for 12, and Red for 15 years. These whiskeys became incredibly popular, in particular the Green Spot but unfortunately they went out of production in the late 1970's. They have since been re-introduced to the market by Irish Distillers,. However, this particular bottling was issued to mark their 200th anniversary in 2005. Chosen from 3 casks vatted together, the whiskey is 100% Single Pot Still, which is a whiskey made from Malted & Un-malted barley, although this whiskey would've used slightly more unmalted barley creating an amazing creaminess and spiceful palate. The layers of complexity in this whiskey are unparrelled and proof that you don't need the whiskey to be significantly old to be one of the best whiskeys in the world. Redbreast Mano a Lamh: Redbreast is another Single Pot Still brand, which typically is matured in a selection of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, but dominated by those distinct sherry notes. However, this was the first Redbreast edition to be released which had been 100% matured in Ex-Oloroso Sherry casks. The significance of this bottle is clear and vast. Being the first fully matured in Sherry Redbreast edition they made a very small amount of bottles(approx1200) and it was only available domestically in Ireland and you had to be a member of their Single Pot Still club. Each club member was only allowed to purchase 2 bottles, yet this didn't stop them from selling out almost immediately. The whiskey itself is an abundance of fruit texture and flavours, balanced by incredible spice notes. The longer this whiskey is allowed to breath the better it gets. Teeling 24 year Old SIngle Malt: The Teeling Whiskey Company was founded by Jack Teeling in 2013 and they finished construction of their distillery in 2015. So, you may ask how a distillery this young has 24 year old whiskey. The answer is independently bottling. They had purchased stock from another distillery and bottled it under their own name. This particular distillate would have been distilled by Frank McHardy in the Bushmills distillery in the year 1991. It was a double-distilled distillate using about 8ppm of peated barley and a large quantity of Crystal Malt (Malted barley germinated to the point the sugars have started to crystalize). The double- distillation, use of peated barley, and crystal malt all determine that this whiskey was never meant for a Bushmills bottle. SO, it was sold on. When Teeling bought these casks, the whiskey had already been maturing in ex-bourbon casks for 21 years and in order to make it their own they transferred the liquid into French Sauternes casks (barrels that previously held Sauternes, a French sweet wine). The liquid spent a further 3 years in these casks and they created 5000 bottles in total. This 24 year old single malt is magnificent, a slight hint of peat on the palate with glorious layers of rich and sweet fruits and a tremendous amount of French oak spice. It is one of the most complex and layered Malt whiskeys Ireland has ever produced. And to top off the evening…………… Jameson Rarest Vintage Reserve: Not much needs to be said here. This was the pinnacle of Jameson whiskey releases in recent times. First released in 2007, this whiskey was created to show the depth and the quality of the stocks in the Midleton Distillery where Jameson has been made since 1975. Created from a selection of whiskeys aged from 12-35 years in a variety of ex-bourbon & ex-sherry casks, and then vatted together and finished in Port barrels. This whiskey is as complex as it is smooth, possibly one of the most refined whiskeys ever created in Ireland; complex European oak elements intertwined with a richness and fruitiness that exhilarates the palate. A true masterpiece. But, sadly discontinued, never to be produced again. On behalf of my fellow Brothers of the Cunningham Division as well as the soon to be Daughters of Erin, I wish to thank you for your support. Enjoy your evening……Slainte’ Jay McCarthy, Past Division President Cole Slattery, Division President Bob Fay, Past Division President .