17 Facts About Irish whiskey

Irish whiskey was once the most popular spirit in the world, though a long period of decline from the late 19th century onwards greatly damaged the industry, so much so that although Ireland boasted at least 28 distilleries in the 1890s, by 1966 this number had fallen to just two, and by 1972 the remaining distilleries, Bushmills Distillery and Old Midleton Distillery, were owned by just one company, Irish Distillers.

Since the 1990s, Irish whiskey has seen a resurgence in popularity and has been the fastest-growing spirit in the world every year since 1990.

Irish whiskey was one of the earliest distilled drinks in Europe, arising around the 12th century.

The Irish whiskey then modified this technique to obtain a drinkable spirit.

Irish Mist, a whiskey liqueur launched in 1963, is purportedly based on such a recipe.

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However, it is known that by 1556 Irish whiskey was widespread, as an Act passed by the English Parliament declared Irish whiskey to be "a drink nothing profitable to be drunken daily and used, is universally throughout this realm made".

Irish whiskey has a smoother finish as opposed to the smoky, earthy overtones common to Scotch whisky, which come largely from drying the malted barley using peat smoke.

For many years following its introduction, Irish whiskey produced by registered distillers was known as "parliament Irish whiskey", while that produced by illicit producers was, and still is referred to as Poitin, a Gaelic term meaning "small pot" in reference to the small pot stills used by the illicit distillers.

However, when demand for whiskey increased in the early 1800s, due to population growth, and changing consumption patterns, much of the demand was initially met by small-scale illicit distillers who did not need to pay tax or comply with the restrictions of the 1779 Act.

However, under the reforms, duty was to be paid only when the Irish whiskey was actually sold, making its storage in bond more attractive, as less of the distillery's working capital would be tied up in already-taxed stock.

The chief output of these distilleries, known as single or "pure pot still" Irish whiskey, was made from a mix of malted and unmalted barley, and solely distilled in pot stills.

Irish whiskey's patent, the Coffey still, was a continuous distillation apparatus which offered an improvement on the traditional pot still.

In 1909, the royal commission settled the argument, declaring that Irish whiskey could refer to the output of either Coffey or pot stills.

The use of the term "single" in the aforementioned varieties being permissible only if the Irish whiskey is totally distilled on the site of a single distillery.

Irish whiskey comes in several forms, with the name of the style depending on the type of grain used and the distillation process.

Single pot still Irish whiskey is made from a mixture of malted and unmalted barley completely distilled in a pot still within a single distillery.

The vast majority of grain Irish whiskey is used to make blended Irish whiskey, a product made by mixing column still product with richer and more intense pot still product.