I’ve long been a big fan of Walsh Whiskey’s, and have a permanent collection of “drinkers” in my collection of both the Writers Tears & Irishman brands. Incredible value for money in my opinion.
But sadly, despite my interest, I missed an opportunity to pick up the first release (2011) of their annual Cask Strengths as I only really started to get into the scene in 2015. Now sadly – finding this little beauty is half the battle, (there are only 1200) and the second is purchasing it without melting the credit card!
Credit: Irish Whiskey Auctions
But this annual release is gaining more and more traction with collectors. It’s really the only alternative to the Midleton VR collection when it comes to annual releases, and at a far more cost effective price point for those of us with limited funds . I would also say that the packaging is far more appealing (in a different way). While the MVR’s are lovely with their wooden boxes, they’re all pretty much the same (excluding the recent facelift from 2017), but the Writers Tears annuals would sit proudly on any shelf inside OR outside of their boxes. They’ll draw you to them!
Outside of the 2011 & 2012, all the other bottlings are reasonably easy to acquire with a bit of patience but they will no doubt get rarer and rarer as aside from being pretty to look at – they are great to open. I have no doubt these will continue to appreciate in time. A solid investment in my opinion.
Credit: Rudi Berkinberger
So anyway – enough of the chats, here’s the info you came here for. While based on recent results, you could have picked up the set for c €2k, I’d suspect if the full set were to come to auction, you’d be looking at closer to the €2.5k – 3k mark – largely due to those impatient collectors out there. The breakdown is as follows:
A big thank you to Omar Fitzell (ThatsDramGood – go subscribe), Anthony Sheehy of Irish Whiskey Auctions, and Rudi Berkinberger (member of the Irish Whiskey Valuations Facebook group) for allowing me to use their photos.
Slainte!
Niall
The Whiskey Companion 