Recently I had the absolutely pleasure of running a top shelf Armagnac + Whisky tasting for belfast whisky week. We pulled entirely from casks I own, either purchased alone or in collaboration with Sascha Junkert from Armagnac.de. Some of these have been bottled, others were samples from casks we will release in the future. AND the release of a special special bottling of Dunville’s 21 Year Irish Whiskey which has been maturing in my own Grand Mole 1985 cask #17 barrel since 2022. Check out The session overview and the slide deck.
Armagnac Will Wreck Your Worldview & A Dunville’s Special Release
We are delighted to invite you to a truly unique session, with two intertwined conversations. First, a top-shelf introduction to Armagnac for whisky drinkers. And then, the release of the first bottling from a project which took flight at BWW in 2021. Belfast Whiskey Week is overwhelmed to share an elegant Dunsville 21 single cask which has been maturing in my very own Grand Mole 1985 Armagnac cask since we dreamed up the idea at the event.
Shane Pearlman, passionate spirits geek and intermittent independent bottler.
For you true whisky geeks, I’m about to f*ck with your worldview. In 2018, I became obsessed with Armagnac, the oldest known distillate in the world. Why? Because price-to-joy, nothing comes even close. Because it is downright delicious. Because the production isn’t bullshit corporate-factory output. Each cask comes from a family working their farm, distilling once per year. Spirits from people whose table you will sit at and share a meal with, then dip into the cellars and taste casks dating back to their great-grandparents. There are few places left on earth with such history and authenticity. I’m bringing 5 bottles from casks I have personally purchased. A full metal brandy for a whisky drinker’s palate, ranging from 21 to 60 years in the cask. How many of you have sipped from a 1967 spirit, still in the cask? I just pulled the sample and it will rock your world.
Imagine trying the whisky after it has been finished, as well as the actual spirit or wine which influenced it!!! I’ve often wished to see what the marriage between a good Irish whisky and a top-caliber Armagnac cask could produce. But of the few rare Armagnac cask finishes I see, they never share the name of the domaine. Not surprising as Armagnac producers don’t sell good casks. They are used for generations. So when I sat at a dinner in 2021 at Belfast Whisky Week, Jarlath from Echlinville and I dreamed up a unique proposition. You’ll taste my Grand Mole 1985 cask #17 (at a whopping 61% ABV) and the Dunsville single cask which has been resting for years in its arms. I’ll even give my friends and family pricing on the Dunsville bottle for those who attend.
Join Shane Pearlman, passionate spirits geek and intermittent independent bottler, for an evening of excellent brandy, a special whisky launch, plus a solid conversation on the history and unique factors of production and aging that make Armagnac so damn good.
A truly unique session in the historic Watson Library Bar, with two intertwined conversations: a top-shelf introduction to Armagnac — France’s oldest brandy — for whiskey drinkers, and the release of the first bottling from a project that took flight at Belfast Whiskey Week in 2021.
When & where
- Thursday 30 July 2026, from 8:00pm
- The Watson, Library Bar
- Five single-cask Armagnacs (21–60 years) including Grand Mole 1985 cask #17 · Dunville’s 21 single cask launch
Armagnac Education Slide Deck
Feel Free to Use and Distribute and Repurpose.
I’ve had a few people ask for my slides, and I am happy to share them, and encourage people to use them as a basis for their own tasting!
And just in case you only want a single slide, here they are as independent images.
