Irish Whiskey
Posted by Robert Hess on The Spirit World.
The debate continues. Was whiskey first distilled in Ireland, or in Scotland? It is possible that we may never truly know the answer to that question, but when you are in Ireland, be sure to give them the benefit of the doubt.
From a historical perspective, things always get murky the further back in time you go, and when spirits are involved, they seem to get murkier still. Early distillation probably started in the mid to late 1400’s, and didn’t gain a strong foothold until the mid 1500’s, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603). The queen was apparently quite fond of whiskey, having it regularly shipped to her in London. This helped to raise its stature, and level of acceptance.
By 1660 distilling in general had become a large enough commodity that the over-arching British government realized they could add to their coffers by imposing a tax. Ireland was a little removed from the watchful eye of the crown, and so it took another hundred years for this tax to really take hold over there, and by then, a large number of distillers had gone “underground”, distilling what would be referred to as “poteen”, the Irish version of moonshine.
In the early 1800’s, further regulations were imposed which dictated that distilling was strictly illegal in any still that held less than 40 gallons. The intent was to outlaw stills which would be easy to conceal, but what it actually did was force those small distillers who were still trying to abide by the laws, to jump the fence and follow their neighbors into underground distilling. It also created a climate which rewarded larger and larger distillers, thus starting the reduction of smaller distillers, and the formation of the large “corporate” distillers. The four largest, and most successful of these were John Powers, John Jameson, William Jameson, and George Roe. They marketed and sold their whiskies throughout the expanding British Empire.
In 1872, the phylloxera blight struck the French wine industry. Which suddenly made not only wine, but brandy difficult to come by, and expensive when available. People turned to other sources of alcohol, and Irish Whiskey was well positioned to take the lead. Irish whiskey had a lighter and more approachable flavor then its Scottish cousin, and so was seeing a higher level of acceptance, especially in the United States. Then came Prohibition. Prior to Prohibition, Irish whiskey was very popular in the United States, so much so that many Irish died out when faced with a loss of this lucrative market. The other shoe dropped when Prohibition ended, and the Irish distillers weren’t prepared for this turnabout, but the Scottish distillers were. They came back to America with their “blended” Scotch whisky, which was lighter then the peatier “single malt”, and this quickly took the position previously held by Irish whiskey.
Over the decades that followed, distillers across Ireland found it necessary to combine forces in order to survive. For many years, there were staunch supporters of either Jameson, or Bushmill, depending on socio-political affiliations, when in fact both brands were now owned by the same company, one which wasn’t even irish. Today, there are three main distilleries in Ireland. New Midleton is owned by the Pernod-Ricard company, and manufactures Jameson, Powers, Paddy, Redbreast, and Midleton Very Rare. The Old Bushmills Distillery, is owned by Diageo, and which of course makes Bushmills. And Cooley, which is the only independently owned, and specifically Irish-owned, whiskey distillery in Ireland. Cooley manufactures Connemara, Kilbeggan, and Lockes.
Being a whiskey, Irish whiskey is of course made from grain. To be specific, it is made from malted barley. Barley is malted by soaking it in water to allow germination to begin. This triggers enzymes which allow the starches contained in the grain to begin to break down so their sugars can be more easily digested by yeast, and thus converted to alcohol. Germination is halted by drying the barley out. It is then combined with water and yeast to ferment. After fermentation is complete, it is distilled. To make a single malt whiskey, it is distilled in a pot still. To make grain whiskey, it will be distilled to a higher proof in a column still. This grain whiskey will then be combined with a single malt to make a blended Irish whiskey.
These days Irish whiskey is often overshadowed by the other whiskies (Scotch, American, Canadian), mostly because it is seen as being much lighter and less complex in flavor, attributes which at one time made it the more desirable of the whiskies. While there aren’t that many cocktails which rely on Irish Whiskey, none can deny that a good Irish Coffee is both simple to make, and can be a welcome warmer on a cold and blustery day.
