Irish Whiskey
Whiskey traces its very origins to Ireland in the 1600s, and for centuries, Irish whiskey was the most popular spirit in the world. Only in the 20th century did Scotch finally surpass it, at which point Irish fell into decline. Irish whiskey differs from its Scottish cousin in several ways. To begin, the Irish spell “whiskey” with an “e.” More importantly, Irish whiskey is rarely made entirely from malted barley. Dating back to their efforts to dodge the British Malt tax of 1785, the Irish coupled raw, unmalted barley with malted barley to make their mash. This resulted in the development vanilla notes that remain more pronounced in most Irish whiskeys. Today, there are several notable single malt Irish whiskeys, but they remain the exceptions. As well, Irish whiskey is typically triple distilled whereas most Scotch is distilled only twice. To be labeled Irish whiskey, the distillate must be aged in wood casks for at least three years. Varieties of Irish whiskey include “single pot still” (which provides the most distinctively “Irish” spirit), “single malt,” “single grain,” and “blended.” Single pot still whiskeys, such as Redbreast and Green Spot, are made at a single distillery using a copper pot still and a blended mashbill that includes malted and unmalted barley as noted above. After years of decline, the popularity of Irish whiskey has exploded in recent years, and whereas there were only three distilleries in operation 20 years ago (Bushmills, Cooley, and Midleton), there are at least 18 today, all creating distinctive whiskeys that build upon and also challenge Ireland’s long whiskey-making tradition.
Top Irish Whiskey Posts:
On Toasts and Irish Whiskey for St. Patrick’s Day
A Visit to Dublin’s Teeling Whiskey
Tasting Report: Jameson Rare and Reserve Irish Whiskeys
With Irish whiskey still on the rise, new brands are popping up left and right. Case in point is John L. Sullivan, produced by an outfit called Good Spirits Bottling. This small batch Irish, named after the last bare-knuckled boxing heavyweight world champion, is distinguished by being aged in “single use” Bourbon barrels. Now, most…
Northcross Irish Whiskey is made at the Great Northern Distillery in County Louth, in the northeast corner of Ireland (just south of Northern Ireland). The distillery, founded by John Teeling, is the largest independent distillery in Ireland, making and aging many different styles of whiskey. The first release from Northcross, their Triple Wood, takes advantage…
All expressions of Jameson are already triple distilled. With this release it adds three types of aging/finishing. Triple Triple, get it? Aging and finishing includes two familiar cask types — bourbon and sherry, both already used by the Irish operation — plus a new and unusual one — chestnut casks, a first for the brand.…
Redbreast’s Iberian Series — now featuring five whiskeys finished in different types of Spanish sherry casks (and one in Port) — continues its journey with this exotic expression, finished in Moscatel wine casks. Crafted by Master Blender David McCabe, this limited-edition honors both Redbreast’s heritage and innovation by using Moscatel Wine casks from the historic…
Jameson is one of the big darlings of the whiskey world right now — Irish is currently the fastest growing spirits category, and Jameson is at the top of the sales charts. We’ve long loved Jameson’s various incarnations, and now it’s out with a new one. Jameson Black Barrel is mostly pot still malted and…
Today, we’re reviewing the oldest Irish whiskey ever sold to the public: a 50 year single pot still, containing the last drops of liquid from the Old Midleton Distillery. Before we dive into tasting notes, this one warrants more than a bit of backstory. This release — Midleton Very Rare Silent Distillery Collection Chapter Six…
A second edition of Teeling’s Phoenix Legends single malt Irish whiskey is upon us, and this one sees a big shift from Legends #1. But before we get to that, let’s talk about the inspiration. Like Legends #1, this whiskey honors the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but this edition celebrates “the legendary 1977 Trojan Horse…
Well folks, it’s the moment that most of you seem to have been waiting for. Whiskey reviews were again the most popular segment of coverage here on Drinkhacker in 2025, and who are we to keep you hanging? What did we like best — the very best — of the hundreds of whiskeys we tasted…
Did 2025 turn out the way you were expecting it to? The world’s gone so insane that, at this point, I don’t think anything that happens in the next 12 months could possibly surprise us. Did you also get the memo that the alcohol business is in massive decline? Turns out people stopped drinking, just…
Boann Distillery is a family-owned operation in Ireland, County Meath. It began running its stills in 2019, and now its first products are making their way to the U.S. — all single pot still Irish whiskey, each aged in a unique type of wine cask (though it’s unclear if this is complete aging or just…