Review: Midleton Very Rare Vintage 2026

Midleton Very Rare Vintage 2026 is built from five distinct distillate styles and marks the 43rd edition of the blended Irish whiskey’s annual release. Master distiller Kevin O’Gorman, who created his first Midleton Very Rare vintage in 2021, has included the distillery’s three single pot still styles and two single grain whiskey styles for the new release. With components aged between 14 and 36 years, O’Gorman shares how the latest vintage is crafted to offer something new while staying true to the profile first established by master distiller emeritus Barry Crockett in 1984.

“The new Midleton Distillery was built in 1975 and has grain and pot still whiskey production on-site,” explains O’Gorman. “With his first vintage, Crockett’s objective was to establish an ultra-premium whiskey and showcase the blending of the two whiskey styles, grain and pot.” Midleton Very Rare is aged exclusively in American oak bourbon barrels, in a combination of first, second, and third-fill casks. “We don’t use any new oak, fortified wine, or wine casks,” says O’Gorman, “It’s all about the American oak barrels.”

O’Gorman works with five key variables when crafting each vintage (see below), and a wider choice of stock than his predecessors. For the first vintage, the whiskeys were no more than 9 years old, and in the early years, Crockett could only vary the proportions of light, medium, and traditional (trad) pot still whiskeys, in combination with Midleton’s signature grain whiskey. He had limited access to refill casks or parcels of different ages.

The Master Distiller’s Five Levers for Midleton Very Rare

• Vary the proportion of single grain to single pot still whiskey (it’s predominantly pot still whiskey)
• Vary the proportions of light, medium, and trad pot distillate styles
• Vary the proportions of signature grain, and inclusion of malted/unmalted barley small batch grain, and maize/malted barley small batch grain
• Vary the proportion of first, second, and third-fill bourbon barrels
• Select different age ranges of different parcels of stock

The MVR Profile

While each vintage is unique, all adhere to the elegant profile that defines Midleton Very Rare. When tasting across multiple vintages, several key patterns are revealed. If it’s sweet, floral, and perfumed, perhaps with notes of cut grass or mown hay, then the grain whiskey proportion is likely higher. Find spicy notes of nutmeg, cinnamon, pot still spices, and chile oil, and it’s likely a higher proportion of pot still whiskey. Across the three pot still styles, the light pot conveys fresh citrus notes, the medium pot contributes ripe apple and pear flavors, and the trad pot brings stone fruits and darker fruits. Pick up vanilla, butterscotch, honeycomb, and chocolate, and the blend likely contains a higher proportion of first-fill bourbon casks, whereas notes of orange peel, lemon, and fresh fruits suggest a greater use of refill casks, resulting in a reduction in cask-driven profile and allowing the distillate characteristics to come to the fore.

For vintage 2026, O’Gorman used 10 parcels of whiskey, upping the proportion of trad pot and light pot still whiskey in the blend, spotlighting a parcel of 15-16 year old trad pot matured in first-fill bourbon barrels. Midleton’s signature grain whiskey was the only grain style included in the blend until vintage 2025, when two other small batch grains were included, which are distilled in the Barry Crockett stillhouse only three or four times a year. The 2026 recipe included a parcel of one of these small batch grain whiskeys made from malted and unmalted barley, which adds a characteristic butterscotch note. It’s a particular style of grain whiskey normally used in Jameson Black Barrel, though this parcel has been left to age for more than two decades. The proportion of signature grain is also increased, compensating for dropping the third style of grain whisky used in vintage 2025. The age range continues to get older compared to the 20^th-century vintages. The baseline age range in Midleton Very Rare is typically 12–16 years, with the addition of select parcels of older stock, often over 20 or 30 years old. “If you’re adding a whiskey, it has to have a positive effect on the flavor and taste of the blend,” says O’Gorman. “You just don’t add a barrel for the sake of it.” A 36 year old grain whiskey matured in a second-fill bourbon cask is the oldest component in vintage 2026.

O’Gorman recognizes that he is drawing from the best of Midleton’s stocks, laid down by Crockett and operations manager Brendan Monks in previous decades. In return, O’Gorman is laying down stock for his successors to use in the future, exploring different types of American oak and experimenting with toasting levels. Every three weeks, O’Gorman and the blending team assess samples of new make spirit and mature stock. They use a one-to-five grading system, with exceptional casks scoring four or five set aside and tracked over time for use in Midleton Very Rare. O’Gorman then selects from these parcels to build multiple prototypes, refining and modifying different ideas until he’s satisfied that he’s found his new vintage.

Production Pause Ended

A year ago, Irish Distillers announced an extended production pause at Midleton Distillery and delayed work on its major expansion project. O’Gorman says the distillery is now back in production, with construction work progressing steadily. Significant progress has been made on the new distillery’s column still building, where the columns are now in place, while work continues on the grain intake area. A bridge over the Dungourney River has also been completed. Groundwork for the fermenters is beginning, with work on the pot stillhouse expected to start within the next 12 months. It’s a substantial and complex engineering project, and commissioning the new distillery is likely several years away.

Midleton Very Rare Vintage 2026 sees O’Gorman pulling all the master distiller’s levers to deliver a complex, sweet profile for the latest iteration of this classic blend, long considered the pinnacle of Irish whiskey.

How Does Midleton Very Rare Vintage 2026 Blend Taste?

93 points
ABV: 40%
SRP: $240
Availability: Limited annual release, available from April 2026. Release volumes are never disclosed, but O’Gorman confirms this year's release is in line with vintage 2025.

The nose opens with abundant sweetness and fruitiness, as caramel, vanilla, butterscotch, and toasted oak meet sliced kiwi, tangy citrus zest, fragrant grain, apricot, florals, and light spices. On the palate, creamy butterscotch, vanilla frosting, and green melon glide into cinnamon powder, ginger root, and mocha. A sumptuous mouth-coating finish of vanilla and gentle spices evokes vintage 2015, delivering a sweeter, creamier experience than recent years.