Irish whiskey is a grain whiskey made
in Ireland. There are several types of whiskey common to
Ireland: Single Malt, Single Grain, Pure Pot Still and
Blended Whiskey.
Originally called “Uisce Beatha” ("Water
of Life" in Irish), the name was found difficult
to pronounce by English speakers and was shortened to "uisce".
Through time the name was eventually Anglicised to whiskey..
Craythur is a modern Irish term for whiskey. The Irish
spell the drink "whiskey," while
the Scottish drop the "e".
Although similar to scotch in many ways, one way Irish
Whiskey differs is that peat is almost never used in
the malting process, so the smoky, earthy overtones
of Scotch whiskies such as Islay (pronounced eye-luh)
and a few of the Island whiskies are absent. A notable
exception to this is Connemara Peated Malt whiskey.
There are far fewer distilleries of Irish whiskey than
there are distillers of Scotch. Economic difficulties
in the last couple of centuries have led to great number
of mergers and closures. Currently there are only three
distilleries operating in Ireland (although each produces
a number of different whiskeys): Midleton, Bushmills,
and Cooley. Only Cooley's is Irish-owned.
Types of Whiskey
Irish whiskey comes in several forms. There is
a single malt whiskey made from 100% malted barley distilled
in
a pot still, and a grain whiskey made from grains distilled
in a column still. Grain whiskey is much lighter and
more neutral in flavour than single malt and is almost
never bottled as a single grain. It is instead used to
blend with single malt to produce a lighter blended whiskey.
Unique to Irish whiskey is pure pot still whiskey (100%
barley, both malted and unmalted, distilled in a pot
still). The "green" unmalted barley gives the
pure pot still whiskey a spicy, uniquely Irish quality.
Like single malt, pure pot still is sold as such or blended
with grain whiskey. Usually no real distinction is made
between whether a blended whiskey was made from single
malt or pure pot still.
Irish whiskey is believed to be one of the earliest
distilled beverages in Europe, dating to the mid-12th
century. The Old Bushmills Distillery in Co.
Antrim, lays claim to being the oldest licenced distillery
in the world since gaining a licence from James I in
1608.
Single Malt whiskey is
distilled at a single distillery and is completely
from
a single type of malted grain, traditionally barley,
(although there are also single malt rye whiskies). Most
single malt whiskies are distilled using a pot still.
Brands of Single Malt Whiskey
Brogan's Legacy Irish Single Malt
A Drop of the Irish
Bushmills Ten Year Old
Bushmills Sixteen Year Old
Cadenhead's Peated Single Malt
Clonmel Single Malt
Connemara
Erin Go Bragh
Knappogue Castle
Locke's Single Malt
Merrys Single Malt
Michael Collins Single Malt
Preston Millenium Malt
Shanahans
Shannon Grain Single Malt
Slaney Malt
Suir Peated Malt
Tyrconnell
Single Grain Irish Whiskey is
the product of a one grain whiskey distillery.
Brands of Single Grain Irish Whiskey
Greenore
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Pure Pot Still
Whiskey contains only "pot still
whiskey" and is unique to Ireland. Traditionally "pot still whiskey" was
made from a mixture of malted and unmalted barley, distilled
in a pot still as opposed to a Coffey still. The ratio
of unmalted to malted barley can vary, but there tends
to be more unmalted barley in a pure pot still whiskey
blend. For example, the various Jameson blends have a
60:40 (unmalted:malted) ratio.
Under modern Irish law, any whiskey distilled in a pot
still can be termed "pot still whiskey." Therefore,
it is not legally necessary for a distiller to add unmalted
barley to his or her grain mix. Some whiskeys produced
by the Cooley Distillery break from tradition and do
not use unmalted grain. Thus, they are actually single
malt whiskeys, but can be legally labelled "pot
still whiskey" if the distiller so chooses. The
majority of "pot still whiskeys" conform to
the traditional definition.
Brands of Pure Pot Still Whiskey
Green Spot
Daly's of Tullamore
Dungourney 1964
Dunville's Three Crowns
Jameson 15 Year Old Pot Still
Magilligan
Midleton 25 Year Old
Midleton 30 Year Old
Old Comber
Redbreast (whiskey)
Willie Napier 1945
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Blended Whiskey is
the product of blending different types of whiskies.
It is generally the product of mixing one or more single
malt whiskies (made from 100 percent malted grain together
with other grain whiskies or neutral grain spirits. A blended
whiskey is much less expensive to produce than the other
types of whiskey. Most cocktails and mixed drinks that
call for whiskey use blended whiskey. This is primarily
for cost reasons and secondarily because the complex
flavours of single malt whiskies would be overshadowed
by the mixer.
Brands of Blended Whiskey
Avoca (whiskey)
Baileys Irish Whiskey
Ballygeary
Brennans
Bushmills White Bush
Bushmills Black Bush
Bushmills 1608
Cassidy's
Coleraine
Clontarf
Crested Ten
Dunphys
Erin's Isle
Feckin Irish Whiskey
Golden Irish
Grace
Hewitts
Inishowen
Jameson Irish Whiskey
Jameson 12 Year Old
Jameson Distillery Reserve
Jameson Gold
Kilbeggan
Locke's
Michael Collins Blend
Midleton Very Rare
Millars
Murphy's
Old Kilkenny
O'Briens
O'Neills
Old Dublin
Paddy
Powers Gold Label
Red Breast Blend
Strangford Gold
Tullamore Dew
Wild Geese
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Poitín (or
Poteen, anglicised as putcheen) is the most Irish of
drinks and could be described as a neat spirit distilled
from whatever
was at hand. It is an Irish
moonshine and may also refer to Irish Whiskey.
The term is a diminutive of the word pota 'a
pot';
Poitín was traditionally distilled in
a small pot.
The home brew is often strong and some market labels
are as strong as 80% volume (160 proof). It has a distinctive
dry and grainy flavor with a delicate aftertaste that
becomes sweeter as it develops. Some rural Irish people
still pour it on wounds and sores for its disinfectant
properties, which with as high an alcohol volume as
it has it certainly has.
This legendary Irish moonshine was outlawed in 1760
and has only recently been legalized for consumption
again in Ireland, though legal production for export
has been allowed for quite some time.
It is now available in collectors' off licences. However,
'legal versions' of poitín are of a greatly reduced
volume and are not seen as "the real thing."
More precisely, in 1661 King Charles II introduced a
levy on spirits in the United Kingdom. In Ireland, however,
it was totally ignored. Ninety nine years later, the
Crown tried again by outlawing private distillation unless
specifically licensed by the State.
Overnight a large proportion of the Irish population
became criminals as has anyone who has distilled it privately
since.
Brands of Poitín
Bunratty Potcheen
Celtic Spirits Triple Distilled Poitin
Hackler Poitin
Knockeen Hills Irish Poteen
Poitin 50
Irish Coffee. A
classic Irish coffee (Irish: Caife Gaelach) consists
of hot coffee, Irish whiskey, and sugar, with double
cream whipped until it begins to stiffen, floated on
top. Although this beverage can be served without sugar,
the cream will not float on top of the coffee in the
traditional manner.
The original Irish coffee, or so the lore would have
it, was invented at Foynes by Mr. Joseph Sheridan,
the head chef there. (Foynes was the precursor to Shannon
Airport in the west of Ireland). The coffee was conceived
as a warmer for trans-Atlantic travelers in the 1940s.
Preparation of Irish Coffee
-
Black coffee should be prepared
in the usual manner
- Pre-heat coffee glass with hot water, then empty
- Pour 4 ounces of the coffee into a tall, clear glass
(with a handle)
-
Place 1 ounce of Irish Whiskey (Paddy's
is traditionally used in finer Irish pubs) and minimum
of a level teaspoon
of sugar (or more to taste)
should
be
added and stirred into the coffee until fully
dissolved. The purpose of
the sugar is to keep the cream floating, and from melting into
the mix;
-
The cream should be dropped on
top of the coffee forming a "head" and thereby giving
an overall
appearance similar to that of a properly poured
Guinness.
It helps to pour the cream slowly over a spoon that has been
heated in a mug of boiling water.
-
Serve without a straw or stirrer
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Irish Whiskey Distilleries
Old Bushmills Distillery
The Old Bushmills Distillery is the oldest licensed whiskey
distillery in the world. It is owned by drinks giant Diageo.
Bushmills is produced, matured, and bottled on site at
the Bushmills Distillery in Bushmills, County Antrim, Northern
Ireland.
Despite a lack of historical evidence, it is believed that
troops of King Henry II enjoyed the taste of Bushmills
some 400 years before the distillery became officially
licensed in 1608 by King James I. In 1784 the Bushmills
Distillery became an officially registered company. From
1740 to 1910 Irish emigrants to the USA spread the word
of Bushmills, and it soon became a huge success at international
spirit and whiskey competitions.
In the early 1900s, the U.S. was a very
important market for Bushmills (and other Irish Whiskey
producers). Prohibition
in 1920 came as a large blow to the Irish Whiskey industry,
but Bushmills managed to survive. When Prohibition ended
in the U.S., the distillery's director of the time, Wilson
Boyd had predicted it and had large stores of Whiskey ready
to export.
Current Bushmills whiskey range
- Bushmills Original - Blend
of single malt Irish whiskey and Irish grain whiskey
- sometimes called White Bush or
Bushmills White Label. The grain whiskey is matured
in American oak casks
- Black Bush - A blend comprised mostly of single
malt. Selected Spanish Oloroso sherry-seasoned oak casks
mature the malt, before it is blended with delicate
sweet single grain whiskey. Developed in 1934, it was originally called “Old
Bushmills Special Old Liqueur Whiskey”.
- Bushmills 10 year single malt - Distilled three
times and made from 100% malted barley. Matured in American
bourbon barrels for at least 10 years.
- Bushmills 16 year single malt - Matured for 16 years
or more in a combination of American bourbon barrels
and Spanish Oloroso sherry butts.
- Bushmills 21 year single malt - A limited number
of 21 year bottles are made each year, and are distilled
in 3 different types of casks:
firstly
in American
bourbon barrels and secondly in Spanish Oloroso sherry casks. Together
it will total 21 years in these casks, where it may lie in Madeira
drums until bottling.
- Bushmills 12 year single malt - A special edition
currently sold only at the Bushmills distillery.
Retired Bushmills whiskey range
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Cooley
Cooley Distillery is the only independent, Irish-owned
whiskey distillery in Ireland, converted in 1987 from
an older vodka plant by John Teeling. The Distillery
is located on the Cooley Peninsula in County Louth on
Ireland's eastern coast.
The Distillery's main products are Kilbeggan and Lockes
whiskeys, as well as Connemara, the only peated whiskey
made in Ireland. Other products include Tyrconnell and
Michael Collins single malts, and a Michael Collins blended
version.
What makes Cooley's whiskey distillery distinctive is
their use of small copper pot stills with very large necks
that causes the spirits to take 50 percent longer to pass
through. This, the distillers believe, results in a more
refined product. In addition, Cooley brand whiskeys are
distilled only twice as opposed to the more traditional
Irish method of distilling the spirits thrice.
Once the distilling is complete, the spirits are shipped
to Kilbeggan Distillery in County Westmeath where it is
aged in oak casks.
Whiskeys Produced
Single Malt
• Tyrconnell
Single Grain
• Greenore
Blended
• Kilbeggan
• Locke's
• 8 year
• Premium Blend
• Millar's
Peated
• Connemara
• Inishowen
Other Brands
• Michael
Collins exclusively for Sidney Frank Importing
• Eblana
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New Midleton Distillery
The Midleton distilleries complex is situated outside Midleton,
Co. Cork, Ireland. It is owned by Pernod-Ricard. Located
along side is the Old Midleton Distillery which was established
in the early 17th century.
In 1966, John Power & Son, John Jameson & Son
and the Cork Distillers company (which owned the Old Midleton
distillery) mergered to form the Irish Distillers Group.
The board of the newly formed company decided to close
their existing distilleries and consolidate all production
at a new facility. This was built at Midleton as it was
the only existing site with room for expansion. In July
1975, production ended at the old distillery and began
in the new one. The old distillery has since been turned
into a visitors' centre.
Midleton is one of the most modern distilleries
in the world, and with a production capacity of 19 million
litres per annum is the largest in Ireland. The distillery
boasts thirteen 75,000 litre stills, both pot and column,
which are used in combinations of three to produce different
types of whiskey.
Whiskeys Produced
As a result of the different stills combinations that
can be achieved, a range of different products can be produced.The
most significant brands produced are:
- Jameson - The best selling Irish whiskey in the world
- Powers - The best selling whiskey in Ireland
- Paddy - The choice for Irish Coffee
- Tullamore Dew
- Redbreast
- Midleton Very Rare
The grain whiskey for use in Bushmills is also produced
here.
Other Products
- Cork Dry Gin - The most popular gin in Ireland
- Huzzar Vodka - The second most popular vodka in
Ireland
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Irish Distillers
Irish Distillers Group was formed in 1966, when
a merger took place between Irish whiskey distillers
John Power & Son,
John Jameson & Son, and the Cork Distillery Company.
In an attempt the reverse the decline in Irish whiskey
sales, the board of directors decided to close the existing
distilleries in Cork and Dublin and to consolidate production
at a new purpose-built facility. A site alongside the
existing distillery in Midleton, Co. Cork was chosen
as the location for the new distilllery, as there was
no room for expansion in Dublin.
In 1972, Bushmills, the only other whiskey distillery
in Ireland at the time, joined the group. This gave Irish
Distillers control over all whiskey production on the
island of Ireland.
In July 1975 production ceased at the old Midleton distillery
and began in the morning at the new Midleton complex.
The old distilerry has since reopened as a visitors'
centre.
Following an early unsolicited takeover offer by GrandMet,
Allied-Lyons and Guinness; Irish distillers was takeover
by Pernod Ricard in June 1988. In 2005, Bushmills was
sold to rival drinks giant Diageo for £200 million.
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