The Maritime Collection is West Cork Distillers' tribute to where its founders came from. Ger and Denis McCarthy worked as trawlermen off the West Cork coast before turning to whiskey, and co-founder John O'Connell's spherical bottle design borrows its shape from the glass floats once used on fishing nets.
Inside is single malt matured patiently in first fill bourbon casks and then finished in sherry casks from Bodegas Baron in Andalusia. It is bottled at drinking strength without chill filtration or added colour, which leaves the texture fuller than the Irish norm.
The nose leads with dried prune, fig and sherry sweetness over vanilla. The palate opens sweet and rich before drying out through the middle, finishing with a clean line of spice and gentle oak.