Portugal's Douro Valley: an important role in the world of whisky.

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I'm standing on a rocky cliff hundreds of feet above the Douro River in Portugal. From this vantage point, the terraced vineyards that fill the valley below me look like thin undulating lines carved horizontally into the hillsides, occasionally intersected by a narrow road, a wooded area, or the white facade of the Quinta winery estate.

The intense slope of these hillsides and the steep terracing of the vineyards were revealed to me while traveling in an off-road jeep that took me from the valley lowlands to my current observation site. In fact, the vineyards below me are so steeply terraced that much of it is inaccessible to mechanization and must be harvested exclusively by hand.

While the air is still soaked with summer heat, harvesting continues in the Douro Valley. The leaves on the vines change to shades of red and purple, and the ripe grapes are harvested, fermented and placed in barrels where their juices will be transformed into the most exquisite port wines in the world. Ironically, I'm not in Portugal's famous Douro Valley wine region to drink port (although I'll definitely do that in the coming days) - I'm here to taste whiskey.

My guides and teachers on this journey full of spirituality are renowned Redbreast Irish Whiskey master blender Billy Leighton and his assistant blender Dave McCabe.

We're here to sample some of their atypical Irish whiskeys while exploring the unique European region that inspired them.

For Leighton and McCabe, the Iberian Peninsula, which includes Spain and Portugal, has been central to Redbreast's creative process from the very beginning. They produce their flagship Redbreast 12 whisky by aging their spirits in a mix of ex-Bourbon casks from America and ex-Sherry casks from Jerez in southern Spain, and then blending them together.

These two different oak influences are felt on aroma and flavor. Vanilla, citrus and smoked wood spice from used bourbon barrels make up the base flavors and aromas. However, it is the dried fruit (apricot, raisin, banana) and nut characteristics (walnuts, almonds) from Oloroso Sherry barrels that dominate the palate.

The special notes of dried fruit and nuts from fortified wines produced in the Iberian Peninsula, especially Oloroso Sherry from Spain, give Redbreast its distinctive style. In recent years, however, Leighton and McCabe have embarked on a project exploring their connection to the region. Redbreast's Iberian series highlights specific regions, winemakers and cooperages on the peninsula. The first expression in the series was a collaboration with renowned sherry producer Bodegas Lustau, followed by a limited edition whisky aged in Pedro Ximénez casks. A new expression in the series turns its attention to Douro Valley red port whiskies.

I learned that these whiskies not only reflect a blend of international flavors and oak influences. They also represent the interconnectedness of the global wine and spirits industries and, perhaps more importantly, the backdrop of mutual intercontinental friendships.

On his way to the banks of the Douro River, McCabe explains how Irish whiskey, American bourbon, and Iberian fortified wines are interconnected and even dependent on each other for survival. For example, bourbon whiskey can only be aged in new oak barrels, so once used, barrels cannot be reused to make new ones.

This strict rule, combined with the booming bourbon industry, is creating a huge surplus of used American oak barrels. This is great news for Ireland's whisky industry, which relies on these abundant and affordable casks to age its own whisky. After getting a used brandy cask, whisky distilleries such as Redbreast typically use it up to three times to age their whiskies.

The situation of finding used sherry and port casks on the Iberian Peninsula is quite different, however. Producers in the UK used to have access to a similar abundance of used sherry casks, but as Dave explains, they had to change their approach as the industry changed.

"Historically, there was a huge market for port in Britain, so there were always casks being transported from Portugal to the UK and it was inevitable that whiskies would be matured in them," says McCabe. - "But nowadays people don't drink as much port or sherry as they used to, and freely available casks are no longer on the market, so to keep that flavor today we actually have to make them to order." By working directly with each other, each party gets what they need: Redbreast gets their customized, perfectly soaked barrels, and their partners on the Iberian Peninsula get good business from a loyal customer. Dave McCabe adds, "The point is that we are building relationships to create an Irish whiskey that is known around the world, but with influences from around the world. "

Whiskeys like Redbreast truly express their international influences through aromas and flavors. But beneath the surface of what can be sniffed and tasted, there are the human relationships and collaborations of international friends between Layton and McCabe and the cooperages and winemakers of Iberia that make this style of whisky possible.

The source of the first release in the Iberia series, for example, is the decades-long friendship between Billy Layton and Manolo Lozano, winemaker at Bodegas Lustau in Jerez, the historic primary supplier of aged sherry casks to Redbreast.

"When the sherry industry didn't go so well, a lot of sherry producers who aged whisky casks stopped doing it," Leighton says. - "But Lustau has stayed with us through everything. And we wanted to give them the recognition they deserve and thank them for their support." So Leighton approached Lozano and suggested they collaborate on their own version of Lustau, which would carry the bodega's name and logo.

"We got together and worked together," Leighton says. - "I went to see him in Jerez. He came to Middleton and made some adjustments to soften the strong flavors of Redbreast 12 so we could feel more of the Lustau sherry influence, and finally Manolo and I approved what we ended up putting in the bottle. "

Lozano sadly passed away before the launch of Redbreast Lustau Edition in September 2016, but his and Billina's friendship is now represented by the permanent inclusion in the Redbreast whisky range. It also served as the starting point for additional expressions in the Iberian series that appeared in the years that followed.

"I have a sentimental attachment to it," Billy says as we sample Lustau together at dinner at our hotel that same night. - "And to be honest, I think we both did a great job." I couldn't agree with him more as I take my first sip. Lustau Edition has the spicy aromas of oak, dried fruit and nuts typical of Redbreast 12, but there's an extra layer of light berries and fresh red fruit, with a mouth-coating textural flavor.

This is due to the 'finishing' process, where aged Redbreast whisky is placed in newly emptied Bodegas Lustau sherry-soaked casks for an additional year to 15 months at the end of the aging process. This introduction of young sherry casks adds an extra layer of flavor, with berry notes and even some tannin surfacing.

Redbreast Lustau demonstrates how different oak influences can create layers of flavor in a single whisky, and how much influence fortified wines from the Iberian Peninsula can add. It also foreshadows a trend that will apply to each of the remaining whiskies I taste in Portugal: behind every expression in the Iberian Redbreast series is the long-term, cultivated intercontinental friendship that made this whisky possible.

The Redbreast Pedro Ximénez release we taste the next day at Casa dos Viscondes da Várzea, a 17th century castle in the heart of the Douro and home of our dinner hostess, Countess Maria Manoé