When Notre Dame’s Combating Irish stormed the sector in inexperienced jerseys in opposition to USC in 1977, the spectacle was unforgettable: a student-built Malicious program rolled into the stadium, the gang roared, and the staff delivered a decisive 49–19 victory that secured a nationwide championship. 

Almost half a century later, Teeling Whiskey is elevating a glass to that second with the second launch in its Phoenix Legends collection — a 16-year-old single malt completed in Marsala wine casks.

The Phoenix Legends assortment debuted in 2024 with a 24-year-old single malt completed in Rivesaltes wine casks, a whiskey that was later named “World’s Finest Irish Single Malt.” For the follow-up, Teeling co-founder Jack Teeling says the main target was much less on age and extra on taste.

“We tasted via plenty of casks in our warehouse and had been actually blown away by the character of this whiskey,” Teeling explains. “This yr’s launch has these scrumptious notes picked up from the residual wine within the barrels — nutty caramel, dried cherries, crème brûlée, with chocolate and refined hints of burnt caramel on the end.”

A youthful spirit, an extended end

The age assertion drops from 24 to 16 years, however grasp distiller Alex Chasko emphasizes that the choice was pushed by style, not numbers.

“Once I’m making a whiskey I’m targeted on taste and aroma—the age doesn’t actually issue into my choice making,” Chasko says. “The bourbon casks gave us an excellent base of sunshine fruit, biscuit sweetness, and wooden notes. The Marsala end layered on caramel, spice, and umami richness. I wished a whiskey that demanded your consideration.”

The whiskey spent two years in Marsala casks — an unusually lengthy ending interval. As a result of the casks had been initially toasted oak, Chasko says the higher-strength spirit was ready to attract out nutty, tobacco, and savory notes that deepen the whiskey’s complexity.

The Notre Dame partnership might have simply been a branding train, however Teeling insists that the whiskey comes first.

“For us, the Notre Dame partnership is not only about placing a emblem on a bottle — it’s about bringing collectively two establishments with deep roots in Irish heritage, excellence, and progress,” he says. “Every launch stands by itself as a whiskey first.”

That stability of heritage and innovation is central to Teeling’s broader mission of redefining Irish single malt.

Redefining Irish single malt

Irish whiskey has lengthy been related to smoothness and accessibility, however each Teeling and Chasko see the Phoenix Legends collection as an opportunity to increase the class’s popularity.

“Not like Scotch, which is commonly locked into sure client expectations, Irish whiskey nonetheless has the liberty to shock folks,” Chasko notes. “With Phoenix Legends, we’re capable of take older, uncommon shares and end them in distinctive casks that carry utterly new layers of taste. It exhibits that Irish whiskey will be complicated and daring.”

For Teeling, the viewers is twofold: Notre Dame followers anticipating a bit of Combating Irish historical past, and whiskey collectors searching for one thing uncommon and distinctive.

“By producing one thing so restricted, distinctive, and well-aged, we’re serving to to reframe perceptions of Irish whiskey, exhibiting that it’s not simply easy and approachable, but in addition layered, complicated, and firmly a part of the worldwide single malt dialog,” Teeling says.