Castle Island Brewing and West Cork Distillers committed to a partnership lock, stock and
plenty of barrels—a dozen to be exact. And now whiskey lovers can drink in the results this
St. Patrick’s Day after the collaboration led to nearly 4,000 bottles of West Cork’s Castle
Island Export Stout Cask Finish. West Cork’s importers (MS Walker) connected the Norwood brewery’s founder Adam Romanow to the Irish distillery’s co-founder John O’Connell. After
the pair chatted, West Cork shipped a dozen barrels, which were used to hold its Bourbon Cask whiskey for four years, to Castle Island. From there, Castle Island used the barrels to hold its
Greetings from Skibb stout for 7 months before eventually shipping them back to West Cork,
where they were filled with a blended whiskey for 8 months. After all that, the final whiskey’s
got plenty of flavors, according to Romanow: malt, chocolate, marzipan and vanilla with a sweet, floral and fruity finish.