Irish Whiskey

Posted on September 7, 2020 in Education

Ireland is the birthplace of whiskey. The word ‘whiskey’ (or whisky) comes from the Irish (or ‘Gaelic’) uisce beatha, meaning water of life. Irish whiskey was once the most popular spirit in the world, with a 60% share of the world export market before declining precipitously. In 1835, there were 93 legal distilleries in Ireland. By 1900, there were about 150. However, a combination of factors that included Irish Independence, two World Wars, prohibition in the US, and the failure to adopt Column distilling at an early stage all contributed in decimating this once flourishing industry. In the 1970’s there were only two Irish whiskey distilleries left, with Cooley Distillery coming into being as the third in 1987.

Irish whiskey has recently seen a resurgence and is back on its feet with over 32 active distilleries and many more in the various stages of planning. Irish Distillers is one of the most recognized distilleries and came into being in 1966 through the merger of various Irish distilleries. They produce many popular brands such as Jameson, Powers, Redbreast, Middleton, the Spots (Green, Yellow, Red) and Method and Madness.

There is a lot of variety in Irish Whiskey and much overlap among styles from other countries. The major categories are Blended, Grain, Single Malt and Pot Still. Once the most popular style in the world, single pot still whiskey is a style of Irish whiskey made by a single distillery from a mixed mash of malted and unmalted barley distilled in a pot still.

• Irish Whiskey
• Pot Still