IRISH WHISKY
For Irish whisky the 19th century was an amazing era, when Irish whisky controlled the whisky world and was prized as a deluxe option. The 20th century was very different, and a sequence of events resulted in Irish whisky losing its status.
At the beginning of that century, Ireland was part of the United Kingdom, and the quest for independence leading to an uprising in 1916, followed by Civil War in 1919-21 in Ireland, also took its toll on Irish whisky as production levels fell and exports declined.
Sales to the USA, for example, were deleted by Prohibition in the USA and the reputation of Irish whisky also struggled as bootleggers often referred to moonshine as Irish whisky, to make it seem more appealing.
In 1988, Irish Distillers was acquired by Pernod Ricard, and the company continued to be the key Irish whisky producer. And then, in the early 200s, the number of distilleries began to grow and by 2018 the total had reached 16.
Irish whisky has a name that seems self-explanatory, but doesn’t tell the whole story. This traditional whisky style uses a combination of malted and unmalted barley, with regulations by setting a minimum of 30% unmalted, though the typical proportion is 50/50.
Increasing the proportion of unmalted barley can add spice to the Irish whisky, but the greatest support is a creamier mouthfeel.
A broad range of casks are used to mature pot still Irish whisky. Green Spot Château Leoville Barton, for example, has a finishing period in casks from this famous Bordeaux wine producer.
Since 2010, the range of experimentation and cask innovation has been amazing. Glendalough, for example, offers a mizunara (Japanese oak) finish, while another chance, closer to home, involves beer casks.
One partnership began with Midleton Distillery lending some Jameson Irish whisky casks to the franciscan Well Brewery in Cork, to discover what influence they would have on strong. When the barrels returned to Midleton, they were refilled with Jameson Irish whisky for a finishing period, which added coffee, cocoa, butterscotch and gentle hints of hops to the smoothness of the whisky. The result was Jameson Caskmates Stout Edition, in 2015.
Source: The Whisky Dictionary: an A-Z of Whisky, from history & heritage to-distilling & drinking
