![]() ![]() Is this all down to the luck of the Irish? Not one bit. The smoky, peated style of single malt is also noticeable in Connemara, a whiskey from the Cooley distillery in County Louth.Īfter a tumultuous time over the past century, Irish whiskey is once again building a fierce reputation for high-quality aged whiskey that manages to meld excellent flavours with an approachability and personality that is distinctly Irish. The single malt style, more often associated with Scotland, is to be found at Bushmills in the north of Ireland, which triple distils its spirit for an additional level of smoothness. ![]() Today there is a broad church of whiskey styles on offer, from Dublin-based Teeling’s award-winning grain to the tapestry of tastes found in the “pot still” whiskeys of Redbreast and Green Spot, made at the Midleton Distillery in County Cork. The stalwart distilleries of Bushmills, Midleton and Cooley found themselves in the slipstream of Scotch, which afforded them the opportunity to showcase their whiskeys to a new generation of curious drinkers.Īlong with a host of independent bottlers and creative blenders, suddenly Irish whiskey was back in the spotlight and being taken seriously as a sipping spirit – not just the jolly Jameson mixer that had previously underscored whiskey from Ireland as a good-time party drink. Scotch has, for the past couple of decades, been the pace-setter for long-aged, premium whisky (note the spelling by the way: with an ‘e’ in Ireland and the US, without an ‘e’ in most other countries), allowing Scotland’s neighbours on the Emerald Isle to slowly build up good stocks of aged spirit, slumbering away in warehouses. Today, the Celtic Tiger is roaring again, or should that be pouring again, as, from a base of just four distilleries 10 years ago there are now well over 30, signalling a new golden age for Irish whiskey. Fast forward to 1960 and Ireland had lost 26 of the 30 distilleries previously operational, leaving just four to uphold the island’s tradition of making a famously smooth spirit.īy 1966, three of the remaining producers merged, moving to a new distillery in Midleton, County Cork – an act that left Dublin, previously a powerhouse of whiskey distillation, dry. In the mid 1800s, Irish distilleries were responsible for one gallon of whiskey in every seven made across Great Britain and Ireland. ![]()
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