Any Irish whiskey Drinkers Out There

**ABG0819** · 11th February 10, 07:31 AM

Thanks for the info. I was passed a glass of Irish at a pub the other night. Though I normally go for Jack or Scotch a free round is a free round. I have no Idea what it was though if I had to guess I would say bushmills, it was a small pub and that is usually what I see at the bars around here. The taste was delightful and I would like to delve more into this end of the whiskey world. A new path is not always a scary one.

Thanks again
Graham

**MacMillan of Rathdown** · 11th February 10, 09:00 AM

Setting aside the "politics" of what one drinks, in most Irish households one is apt to encounter one (or more) of the following brands:

Paddys; Jamesons; Powers.

Middleton is a premuim brand and not much seen in the average Irish home. Bushmills is Northern Irish, and again not oft seen in the average home in the Republic.

There is a conceit that Paddy's is a working class whiskey, while Jameson's is linked to the ascendancy and Powers' is middle-class Dublin. In truth, it is really a matter of taste and price, with Paddys being the least expensive of the the three and Jamesons the most expensive. There are other brands, but these aren't as popular locally as they are in the export markets-- Tullamore Dew being a good example. You'd have to look hard to find a jug of Tullamore Dew for sale anywhere outside of Dublin Duty-Free at the airport.

The Irish also drink a lot of Scotch-- about 20% of all whiskey sold in the Republic comes from Scotland. The Big Three (Paddys, Powers, and Jameson) still dominate, and account for about 60% of all Irish whiskey consumed.

Although I always kept a bottle of all three popular brands-- and a Bushmills for visiting Americans-- at my home the most popular tipple seemed to Jamesons, closely followed by The Famous Grouse.

**Kilted in Maine** · 11th February 10, 10:43 AM

Green Spot

Tough to find...but worth the search!

Only 500 cases are made each year, all for the home market, with most of this sold through Mitchell’s shop at 21, Kildare Street, Dublin.

http://www.mitchellandson.com/green_spot.html

I had my in-laws bring me some home from a trip to Ireland.

Comments

This is a tremendous whiskey, sometimes giving a sweet-honey feel more associated with Perthshire malts from Scotland. But the pot still is confident enough to confirm this as Irish with a maturity greater than the age of the whiskey used. If you see it, grab it. It’s too much of a high class one-off to ignore.

**Old Hippie** · 12th February 10, 12:14 PM

I'd be remiss if I didn't recommend Powers. My wife's a relative, so there's always a bottle open at our house. Moonshiners and cattle stealers, the lot of them -- but it's good whiskey.

:ootd:

**NewGuise** · 12th February 10, 01:25 PM

I'm fond of Powers (apparently the top seller in Ireland), and consider Redbreast a truly great whiskey, but should note that Cooley just picked up Malt Advocate's Distillery of the Year award...

**thanmuwa** · 15th February 10, 08:19 AM

My top two are Green Spot (a whiskey with a distinctive green, pear-like taste, if you can believe it) and Redbreast (a deliciously complex pure pot still). As already mentioned, Powers is the most consumed in Ireland, for good reason. Cooley Distillery whiskies are an ideal introduction to Irish whiskies as many of them are hybrids of Scotch and Irish distilling techniques.
Bushmills also makes hybrid type whiskies and Black Bush is one of Bushmills offerings that is popular in Ireland.
By hybrid I mean any Irish distillery that offers single malt and/or only distill twice. The "single malt" style of distilling is a traditionally Scottish technique of which the Irish equivalent is "pure pot still". This is because traditional Irish distilling techniques mix malted and unmalted barley hence you can never get a whiskey from a single malting. This is very much just a rule of thumb though, as there are both Irish and Scottish distillers that have techniques that differ from the traditional styles for each country.
Now I have a druth for a dram!

**Klobbermeister** · 22nd February 10, 03:35 PM

I have to give a nod to a couple of previously mentioned labels:

Knappogue Castle for a single malt is my absolute favorite. Just bought a bottle of Tyrconnel (for the price, and to try something new). Don't like it as much, but it's not bad...it's duskier/peatier (Is that even right? Do they peat that one?) than the Knappogue at the finish (to my palate).

For blends, I am a HUUUGE fan of Feckin', as well as Bushmills. I stumbled upon Feckin' purely for the name, but it's just a darned good product (again, to my palate).

**Charlie Mc.** · 22nd February 10, 07:47 PM

To be honest I prefer Paddy's over Jameson. I have not been able to locate any Paddys in the states though. For christmas i was given a bottle of Connemara which is a peated Irish whisky. I love the smoky Islay malts and I have to say that Connemara is awfully good to my taste.

**O'Callaghan** · 22nd February 10, 10:42 PM

I did a little research to see who makes what. Sure enough, nearly all the major brands are actually made in the Jamieson's distillery in Co. Cork, the actual company name being Irish Distillers, but now owned by Pernod, who apparently also now own Domecq sherry, amongst other tipples.

However, it seems that Tullamore Dew was spun off in 1994 and Bushmills in 2005, so that they don't own those names anymore. Bushmills is based in Co. Antrim in the North, as one person already mentionned, so I suppose it was never integrated to the point where it was ever made in Co. Cork. Tullamore Dew is a different story, though, as the big conglomerate closed down the original distillery in Co. Offaly many years ago, and I'm not quite sure where it's made now.

I visited the Jamieson's distillery in Co. Cork in 2004, which would have been when they still owned Bushmills. I'm afraid I thought Blarney Castle was more interesting, though.

I rather like Powers (made by Jamieson, of course), but I don't see it much in the US. I recently picked up a bottle of Tullamore Dew, though, and that's not bad. Apparently Powers is the most popular in Ireland, whilst Tullamore Dew is the most popular in the export market. Jamieson win the sales battle regardless, as they make most of the brands!

BTW, here's a piece of Trivia. The mother of the Italian Count, Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of radio, was Annie Jamieson of the distillery family. You might say that radio was as much an Irish invention as an Italian one. There's no record of Marconi having a eureka moment after drinking a glass of Irish whiskey, but who knows?

**beloitpiper** · 22nd February 10, 10:57 PM

Originally Posted by Charlie Mc.

To be honest I prefer Paddy's over Jameson. I have not been able to locate any Paddys in the states though. For christmas i was given a bottle of Connemara which is a peated Irish whisky. I love the smoky Islay malts and I have to say that Connemara is awfully good to my taste.

Paddys? Really? When I lived in Ireland we only drank it because it was all we could afford! But good news, it has recently begun to be imported into the US. Ask your local liquor store about availability.