Whiskeys Of Ireland

Whiskeys of Ireland
"uisce beatha" - In the Irish language it means "Water of Life"

Home History Single Malt Pure Pot Still Single Grain Blends Poteen Scotch Whisky Canadian Whisky American Bourbon Irish Whiskey Reviews	Here are some of the many Labels from Irish Whiskeys', many are not in existence anymore. Irish whiskey is one of the earliest distilled beverages in Europe, dating to the mid-12th century . The Old Bushmills Distillery lays claim to being the oldest licensed distillery in the world being licensed by James I in 1608. Whiskey being aged in oak barrels	Irish Whiskey 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 Anglicization of the ancient Gaelic term "uisce beatha" which, when translated, means "water of life". The Irish spell the drink "whiskey", but when speaking of Scotch, or Scotch Whisky the "e" is dropped. Although very similar to scotch whisky, the most noticeable difference is that Irish whiskey is distilled three times, and Scotch is distilled only twice. Another way Irish Whiskey differs is that peat is almost never used in the malting process, so the smoky, earthy overtones that one usually finds in scotch aren't present. One exception to this is Connemara Peated Malt whiskey. There are far fewer distilleries of Irish whiskey than there are of Scotch. Economic difficulties in the last couple of centuries have led to a great number of mergers and closures. Currently there are only four distilleries operating in Ireland (although most produces a number of different whiskeys): Midleton, Bushmills, Feckin' and Cooley. Only Cooley and Feckin' are still Irish-owned.

		Irish whiskey comes in several forms. There is single malt whiskey made from 100% malted barley distilled in a pot still, and grain whiskey made from grains distilled in a column still. Grain whiskey is much lighter and more neutral in flavor than single malt and is almost never bottled as a single grain. It is instead used to blend with single malt to produce a lighter blended whiskey. Unique to Irish whiskey is pure pot still whiskey (100% barley, either mixed malted and unmalted, or single malt, distilled in a pot still). The "green" unmalted barley gives the traditional pure pot still whiskey a spicy, uniquely Irish quality. Like single malt, pure pot still is sold as such or blended with grain whiskey. There is usually no real distinction made between a blended whiskey being made from single malt or pure pot still. A Modern day Pot still pictured above

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