Irish whiskey

The three remaining distilleries in Ireland.

Irish whiskey (Irish: Fuisce or Uisce beatha) is a whiskey made in Ireland. There are several types of whiskey common to Ireland: Single Malt, Single Grain, Pure Pot Still and Blended Whiskey.

The word whiskey is an Anglicisation of the ancient Gaelic term "uisce beatha" which translates as "water of life". (The Craythur is a modern Irish term for whiskey.^[1])

At one time, all whisky was spelled without the extra "e", as "whisky". In around 1870, the reputation of Scottish whisky was very poor as Scottish distilleries flooded the market with cheaper spirits produced using the Coffey still. The Irish and American distilleries adopted the spelling "whiskey", with the extra "e", to distinguish their higher quality product.^[2] Today, the spelling whisky (plural whiskies) is generally used for whiskies distilled in Scotland, Wales, Canada, Australia, and Japan, while whiskey is used for the spirits distilled in Ireland and the United States.

Irish whiskey is similar to Scotch whisky in that it is distilled primarily from barley, however Irish whiskey is distilled from a mash of mixed malted and unmalted grains whereas Scotch is distilled in a pot still exclusively from malted barley, hence "'malt whisky" ("Pure" or "Vatted" malt refers to a specific product which is a blend of single malts without grain alcohol). Irish whiskey also, usually contains mixed grains from a column still. This grain whiskey is then mixed with the malt whiskey to create "blended whiskey"). Today, most Irish whiskey is blended from a mixture of malted and unmalted barley.

Most Irish whiskey is distilled three times while Scotch, apart from, Auchentoshan, is distilled twice, but the main distinction is that Irish whiskey contains unmalted barley, which give rise to the characteristic sweetness. Peat is rarely used in the malting process, so that Irish Whiskey has a smoother finish as opposed to the smokey, earthy overtones common to some Scotches. There are notable exceptions to these "rules" in both countries; an example is Connemara Peated Irish Malt (double distilled) whiskey from the independent Cooley Distillery in Co. Louth.

Although Scotland sustains approximately 90 distilleries, Ireland has only three (although each produces a number of different whiskeys): economic difficulties in the last few centuries have led to a great number of mergers and closures. Currently those distilleries operating in Ireland are: New Midleton Distillery (Jamesons, Powers, Paddy, Midleton, Redbreast, and others, plus the independently sold rarity Green Spot), Old Bushmills Distillery (all Old Bushmills, Black Bush, 1608, Bushmills 10-, 12- and 16- and 21-year-old single malts), and Cooley Distillery (Connemara, some Knappogues, (the '94 was by Bushmills) Michael Collins, Tyrconnell, and others). Only Cooley's is completely Irish-owned. Irish Distillers' Midleton distillery has been part of the Pernod-Ricard conglomerate since 1988. Bushmills was part of the Irish Distillers group from 1972 until 2005 when it was sold to Diageo.

Types

Irish Whiskeys.

More Irish Whiskeys.

Irish whiskey comes in several forms. Most Irish whiskey contains alcohol, from malted and unmalted barley and other grain, made using continuous distillation but there are a few Irish single malt whiskies made from 100% malted barley distilled in a pot still. Grain whiskey is much lighter and more neutral in flavour than single malt. Most grain whiskey is used to blend with malt to produce a lighter blended whiskey.

Unique to Irish whiskey is the designation pure pot still whiskey. All single malt Scotch is produced via "pot still" methods but single malt from Ireland is called "pure pot still" to differntiate it from most Irish whiskey and refers to whiskey made from 100% barley, mixed malted and unmalted, and distilled in a pot still. The "green" unmalted barley gives the traditional pure pot still whiskey a unique, spicy flavour in Irish whiskey. Usually no real distinction is made between whether a blended whiskey was made from malt whiskey or pure pot still. Only Redbreast, Green Spot (which is sold only through Mitchell and Son vintners in Dublin), and some premium Jameson brands are pure pot still whiskies. All of these are distilled at Midleton.

Irish whiskey is believed to be one of the earliest distilled beverages in Europe, dating to the mid-12th century (see Distilled beverage). The Old Bushmills Distillery lays claim to being the oldest surviving licenced distillery in the world since gaining a licence from James I in 1608, although production of whiskey didn't commence at Bushmills until the late 1700s. A statute introduced in the late 16th century introduced a viceregal license for the manufacture of whiskey^[3].

Examples

• Blends: Black Bush, Bushmills Original, Inishowen, Jameson, Kilbeggan, Locke's Blend, Midleton Very Rare, Millars, Paddy, Powers, Tullamore Dew, Clontarf
• Pure Pot Still: Green Spot, Jameson 15yr Old Pure Pot Still, Redbreast (12, 15 yrs)
• Single Malt: Bushmills (10, 16, 21 yrs), Connemara Peated Malt (Regular, Cask Strength & 12 yrs), Locke's Single Malt (8 yr), Tyrconnell
• Single Grain: Greenore (8, 10 yrs)

See also

• Irish whiskey brands
• Irish Cream (liqueur made from Irish whiskey, coffee and cream)
• Poitín

Irish whiskey distilleries

• Kilbeggan Distillery

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Whiskey from Ireland

• The Whiskey Guide
• The Irish Whiskey Society Forum
• Portal site dedicated to pure Irish Whisky

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