There are several types of Irish whiskey - Single Malt, Single Grain, Pure Pot Still and Blended.
The word whiskey is an Anglicisation of the ancient Gaelic term 'uisce beatha' which, unsurprisingly translates as 'water of life'.
NOTE. The spelling includes an 'e' before the 'y', different to Scotch - Scottish whisky.
Most Irish whiskey is distilled three times whilst Scotch, apart from Auchentoshan, is distilled only twice. Peat is rarely used in the malting process, so that Irish Whiskey has a smoother finish as opposed to the smoky, earthy overtones common to some Scotches. There are notable exceptions to these 'rules' in both countries; an example is Connemara Peated Irish Malt (double distilled) whiskey from the independent Cooley Distillery in Co. Louth.
Although Scotland sustains approximately 90 distilleries, Ireland has only four (although each produces a number of different blends). Economic difficulties in the last few centuries have led to a great number of mergers and closures. Currently those distilleries operating in Ireland are: New Midleton Distillery, Old Bushmills Distillery, Cooley Distillery ) and the recently reopened Kilbeggan distillery, which began distilling again in 2007.
Only Cooley and Kilbeggan (owned by Cooley) are completely
Irish-owned. Irish Distillers' Midleton distillery has been part of the
Pernod-Ricard conglomerate since 1988. Bushmills was part of the Irish
Distillers group from 1972 until 2005 when it was sold to Diageo. In
addition to the four named there are a number of independently owned
Irish Whiskey brands, such Tullamore Dew and The Irishman.
Irish whiskey comes in several forms. Most contains alcohol continuously distilled from malted and un-malted barley and other grain, but there are a few Irish single malt whiskies made from 100% malted barley distilled in a pot still. Grain whiskey is much lighter and more neutral in flavour than single malt. Most grain whiskey is used to blend with malt to produce a lighter blend.
Irish whiskey is believed to be one of the earliest distilled beverages in Europe, dating back to the mid-12th century. The Old Bushmills Distillery lays claim to being the oldest surviving licensed distillery in the world since gaining a licence from James I in 1608, although production of whiskey didn't commence at Bushmills until the late 1700s. A statute introduced in the late 16th century introduced a viceregal license for the manufacture of whiskey.
A while back I came across the image below. I thought it was the result of a graphic artist with a sense of humour, but in fact the product does exist and available to buy through the Internet.
