I remember the Supervalu drinks range from 20 years ago very well. My first job was at Supervalu in Palmerstown. I started there as an after school job and then when I finished my leaving cert, I briefly went there full time until I moved on to the IT world but I still have fond memories of working there. What I remember from working in Supervalu and indeed visiting many others over the years is this. The range of drinks available back then was incredibly limited, as it was in every supermarket. Supervalu Palmerstown was even more so as they were only allowed to sell wine, not beer or spirits. As I recall, that was a unique scenario because of the deal with the land they occupied. I believe it was owned by the pub and off-licence across the road. I imagine that might have changed since then?

A few years ago, things started to change. Supervalu on Aston Quay in Dublin became a hero when it came to its craft beer range, almost unique among supermarkets in Ireland. More and more, the range increased in other Supervalus around the country, more so after the takeover of Superquinn. The former Superquinn shops were re-branded as Sueprvalu which ended in a massive range of beer, wine, and spirits available that were previously only available in specialist off-licences.

Irish Whiskey is the new craft beer. Distilleries are being built all over the country. In fact, according to the ABFI:

In 2013, there were four distilleries in Ireland in operation producing and selling Irish Whiskey:
Cooley Distillery (est 1987)
Kilbeggan Distillery (est 1757, re-commissioned 2007)
New Midleton Distillery (est 1975)
Old Bushmills Distillery (est 1784)

By August 2017, the number of operational whiskey distilleries in Ireland had increased to 18, demonstrating the scale of Ireland’s Whiskey Renaissance. New distilleries have opened in each of the four provinces, from Dublin’s Liberties to rural communities right across Ireland. There are also plans for a further 16 distilleries.

That’s pretty incredible considering the cost of setting up a distillery is a fair bit more than setting up a brewery. Whiskey more so because you have to wait 3 years before you can even sell your spirit as Irish whiskey. Of course that’s not much a problem because in the meantime, they can produce gin and vodka to pay the bills and also release blended Irish whiskey. Blended whiskey is what most whiskey tends to be. That’s where you buy whiskey spirit from other distilleries and blend it until you achieve the desired flavour profiles. It’s often further aged in other types of wooden barrels to introduce new flavours. Teeling for instance uses former rum barrels to blend whisky while awaiting their own spirits to mature.

In recent years, Supervalu has been championing Irish whiskey brands and the other week, they held a media event to showcase what they are doing. It was held at Christchurch Cathedral in Dublin, down in the crypts. You actually couldn’t wish for a more perfect setting in which to sample whiskey in my view. It reminded me somewhat of visiting Cognac producers last year. The cellars were nice and cool despite all the people and lights.

There were plenty of food options to pair with the whiskey, all made from products available from Supervalu such as Silver Hill Farm duck I picked up at Bloom a few months ago. There were two smoked cheeses which worked perfectly with the peaty Connemara whiskey for instance. In particular, they had butternut squash and toasted hazelnut on Italian cracker bread and it was absolutely amazing.

Of course, I couldn’t get through all of the whiskey available on the night but I did my best. Above is a collage of most of the new stuff I tried. I was particularly excited about the new release from Dingle. It’s a year older at 4 years old now. It’s still very limited, in fact all bottles have been pre-sold to vendors so watch out for them. The good news is that a special batch of 700 bottles has been exclusively set aside for Supervalu. This batch has been aged in both bourbon and port barrels and you can really taste both the sweet vanilla and slightly burnt oak from the bourbon and a slight vinous quality from the port. Mandarin orange makes up the middle ground here. It’s still a young whiskey so will not be as complex as a 12 year old but it’s amazing to experience the journey of the first new 100% Irish whiskey in my drinking lifetime, produced by a new Irish distillery.

The two whiskies from the new Pearse distillery were there on the night, it was the first time I got to try them. While it is a blend, they both use some of their own Irish spirit. Wait, how is that possible? The distillery only opened its doors a matter of weeks ago. Simple really, the distillery itself had been in production at the Carlow Brewing Company facility for some years. Those are the people that make the O’Hara’s range of craft beer. They are planning on releasing a whiskey that will be 100% their own spirit soon, they are just waiting for the right flavours to develop.

The two Powers bottles side by side were interesting. They are both called Single Cask Release and they both cost €200 but they are not the same. As I understand it, both are the same batch of spirit that were casked on 26/11/2001. The one on the left was from cask 69924 and was grand but not worth €200 from a flavour point of view, it was a little harsh. The one on the right however was from cask 69915 and this one was actually very delicious. I’m not sure I would personally pay €200 for a bottle myself but I can see what they are doing. It proves the benefits of blended whiskey. On its own, 69924 isn’t great but if it’s blended with 69915, we get a very different animal.

One whiskey on the night seriously impressed me, above all others. Dubliner Irish Whiskey from the Dublin Liberties Distillery which has yet to open its doors. I think they said it should be open in June. Dubliner is a 10 year old blended whiskey but it’s so smooth that it tastes like a 16 or 18 year old. The biggest delight comes from the mouthfeel which is silky smooth and slightly oily, leaving a thick, viscous coating down the back of your throat. Why is it so good? Simple, the master distiller/blender Darryl McNally is a former distiller from Bushmills. I’ll certainly be picking up one of these the next time I’m looking for a good whiskey. I believe it’s about €50 for a bottle but maybe a little less. I don’t see it available online unfortunately.

Quite a number of whiskies are exclusive to Supervalu. I imagine that means exclusive in supermarket terms with most still available at certain off-licences because I know Celtic Whiskey Shop has most of them too. These exclusives include: West Cork 2 barrels, Hyde 1916 Single Grain, Jameson Black Barrel, Glendalough Double Barrel, Writers Tears Copper Pot, Pearse original and distillers choice.

Thanks to Supervalu for inviting me along for the evening. It was a great experience in a wonderful setting.

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The Rémy Martin grounds are expansive and beautiful. We headed in to the visitor centre to await our tour. They use a little train to get you from building to building. It was here that I heard them use the term eau de vie, though I had heard the term before. It translates to water of life in the same way that uisce beatha, the Irish word for whiskey does. Both terms are simply translations of the Latin term aqua vitae.

When the tour guide talked about eau de vie, he was talking about the distilled spirit itself. This is a fruity, clear spirit of about 70% and not considered cognac yet. In order to become cognac, it must first age for a minimum of 2 years in wooden barrels made from wood procured from the forests of Limousin and to a lesser degree Tronçais. Limousin oak is particularly known for imparting the rich vanilla flavours that Cognac is known for and is the most expensive wood to use. If you are driving though Cognac, you will see thousands of wooden planks sitting outside in large yards and exposed to the elements. These are the staves of future barrels that age like this for about a year and a half before the coopers turn them into barrels.

While ageing in the barrels, alcohol evaporates through the wood and into the air. This has been traditionally known as the angels share and it’s a price they are willing to pay in order to produce good Cognac. The same goes for whiskey by the way. The evaporation rate is about 2.5% over the course of about 50 years. Eventually, blends of different aged Cognacs are blended together to form a Cognac of about 40%.

Rémy Martin doesn’t allow pictures in their barrel warehouses. It was claimed to be a precaution due to the alcohol vapours in the air which is understandable I suppose but I was dubious. I did take one sneaky shot at the visitor centre because the toilets are downstairs in one of the warehouses and no one was about.

Rémy Martin produces one of the world’s oldest and most expensive Cognacs called Louis XIII (13th). It retails for over €2000 so is way out of my reach. I did walk through the store that houses these barrels and breathed in the angels share. That’s about as close as I will ever get unless I win the €170m on the Euromillions tonight!

After we left Rémy Martin, we headed to our accommodation for the next two nights. It was called Jardins en Ville and I can’t recommend it enough. It’s right in the city, about a 10 minute walk from the pedestrianised part of the city centre. It’s like a little oasis in a somewhat urban area. I say urban because Cognac is a city but it’s very compact and retains its French quaintness. It’s run by a very accommodating older couple named Dominique and Bernard. Dominique is pretty much in charge and speaks good English. There’s a large, beautiful enclosed garden, an indoor pool but with two large sliding doors and a little patio section on the far side of the garden with a fridge and BBQ facilities. We cooked steak and enjoyed wine on our second night there and it was so relaxing. We were able to park in the garden too so the car was safe.

That first night, we headed to the best restaurant in the city according to Tripadvisor. It’s called Le Bistrot de Claude and I can certainly recommend it as the food was excellent. Not quite Michelin star but good enough to be listed in the Michelin guide. It’s not that spendy either, we found it excellent value for money. One thing to note is they only open for a few hours for lunch and then for dinner from 7pm. We arrived in time to get a table but I recommend booking in advance.

The next day, we cycled to Hennessy on bikes provided to us by Dominique. Hennessy is right in the city centre on the banks of the river Charente. We entered a very modern, clinically clean looking building to start our tour which involved boarding a boat to cross the river but first, a very brief tour along the river. The boat simply brought us to the opposite bank and to their warehouses.

There was no issue with taking pictures at almost any point on this tour so I guess their angels share is a little more angelic and less explosive. The only part we couldn’t take pictures of was a new part added to the tour. It’s like a modern visitor experience full of audio/visual stuff. It had an interesting history video on multiple screens told from the perspective of Richard Hennessy. Unfortunately, they chose an English accent rather than an Irish one. He was from Cork so I would expect a Cork accent. Perhaps he did have an English accent but I doubt it from a Cork-man.

They showed the distillation process in a sort of digital experience too and it was interesting though I thought the twinkly fairy noises and sparkles were a bit much. When Rémy Martin did the same thing, we stood in front of an old distillation plant and they pointed things out so it was very different in style.

The only real issue I had with this part of the tour was the last bit. We entered a room and stood around a circle. In the circle was a sphere and an audio visual presentation was projected on to it. I felt like was in a night club and was subliminally programmed to order a Hennessy. I don’t even think our guide thought much of it. I thought it was tacky and I suspect it was as a result of a young marketer gone wild. Whatever they paid for that bit of the experience was a waste of money in my view.

After that, we went to see some of the old barrels. The really old stuff is kept in small glass demijohns stored in wicker baskets. There’s Eau de vie from the 1800s sored here.

Before we left, I looked for barrels from the year of my birth (1979) and eventually found 3 lined up nicely so I took a picture.

I then had a picture taken of me in front of them for the craic. We then got the boat back across to the other side of the river for the tasting part of the tour. Myself and my girlfriend were horrified that we were the only ones who actually finished our samples. All told, it was an excellent tour and highly recommended. We then hit the gift shop and I bought a bottle of Fine de Cognac, mostly because it comes in a very pretty bottle.

We had a wonderful time in Cognac. I even found a beer bar attached to a brewery and bottle shop.

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