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
Teeling’s third installment in its Wonders of Wood series — following Chinkapin Oak and Portuguese Oak — is here, and the Irish distillery is turning to its most northern wood source yet: Sweden. WOW #3 is a single pot still whiskey (as usual) that is aged in virgin Swedish white oak. (All three whiskeys in…
Irish spirits — whiskey in particular — is one of the fastest growing liquor categories in America. U.S.-based sales of Irish whiskey are up over 90 percent in the last decade. Much of that growth comes from major brands like Jameson and Bushmills, but dozens of new labels are gaining market share as well as…
Lost Irish burst on the scene a few years ago as the brain child of whiskey expert and writer Tim Herlihy, who figured he could do something a little different in what has long been the relatively sleepy yet growing category of Irish whiskey. The idea: “modernize the category and offer whiskey that travels beyond…
For ages, Midleton has stood pretty much at the top of the Irish whiskey tower, commanding incredible sums for some very rare whiskeys, a few of which we’ve managed to taste. All of that pales in comparison to the brand’s latest release, which celebrates its 40th anniversary. Midleton Very Rare Ruby Edition has a list…
When we first reviewed The Busker Irish Whiskey line in 2021 we found their Single Pot Still variety our favorite of their four offerings. Three years later, we’re excited to try Busker’s newest release, which is a Small Batch version of that Single Pot Still. The whiskey does not have an age statement, but it…
For years Irish whiskey has been the fastest-growing spirits category in the world, and with the explosion of new distilleries in the country, it’s a trend that doesn’t appear to be slowing down. With that in mind, we polled the Drinkhacker staff to suss out the 10 best (permanently available) Irish whiskeys on the market.…
Time to round out our Keeper’s Heart coverage with the final two offerings in their core portfolio. Last year, we had the chance to chat about the young Irish and American whiskey mashup brand with industry icon David Perkins, who serves as Liquid Collaborator and Advisor. Perkins had high praise in our interview for a…
Several Irish distilleries have taken to experimenting with new approaches to making whiskey of late, but few more boldly than Method and Madness. Today we look at their newest expression, which is Single Pot Still Irish whiskey that was first aged in ex-bourbon casks and then finished in Garryana white oak casks from Oregon. Method…
We tasted Gortinore Distilling’s flagship Natterjack Irish Whiskey last spring and found it to be exceedingly approachable but not exactly earth-shattering on the flavor front. A cask strength version dropped around the same time, but a sample only recently found its way onto our desk. As a reminder, this is a younger Irish whiskey (under…
Connacht makes a range of Irish whiskeys, including Brothership and Ballyhoo, and even other spirits like gin and vodka. This however is the first time we’ve covered anything with the Connacht name on the front of the label. This single malt was launched in 2021 as a 4 year old, double-distilled from 100% Irish malt barley…