(Credit: Teeling Whiskey Company)
On Thursday, former US President Barrack Obama received the Freedom of the City from Lord Mayor Ray McAdam of Dublin. In a ceremony held at the Shelbourne Hotel, Obama was also presented with a first edition copy of the novel Ulysses by James Joyce, first published in 1922; and an ultra-aged bottle of Teeling single malt. Since this is The Whiskey Reviewer, the focus here will be on the bottle.
Teeling 30 Year Old Platinum Reserve Single Malt was distilled at the Cooley Distillery in 1983 under the direction of John Teeling, father of Teeling Whiskey Company founder Jack Teeling. The younger Teeling acquired the casks of aged whiskey that would become Teeling 30 Year Old sometime around his establishment of the new company, which began as a negociant, or a company that buys stocks of whiskey from distilleries for storage and blending independently. Teeling Whiskey Company would later win the race to open the first whiskey distillery operating in Dublin since the near-collapse of the Irish Whiskey industry in the 1970s. At the time it was first released, Teeling 30 Year Old was the oldest Irish single malt on the market, but nowadays that title belongs to Bushmills 46 Year Old, released in 2025.
Barrack Obama was the US President from 2009-2017. He stands out in modern history as the first US President since Dwight Eisenhower to serve two full terms and leave office without scandal, impeachment or looming criminal charges.
