Types of Irish Whisky

Irish whiskey comes in several forms. Most Irish whiskey contains alcohol continuously distilled from malted and unmalted 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 blended whiskey.

Unique to Irish whiskey is the designation pure pot still whiskey. All single malt Scotch is produced via "pot still" methods but single malt from Ireland is called "pure pot still" to differentiate it from most other Irish whiskey and refers to whiskey made from 100% barley, mixed malted and unmalted, and distilled in a pot still. The "green" unmalted barley gives the traditional pure pot still whiskey a unique, spicy flavour in Irish whiskey. Usually no real distinction is made between whether a blended whiskey was made from malt whiskey or pure pot still. Only Redbreast, Green Spot (which is sold only through Mitchell and Son vintners in Dublin), and some premium Jameson brands are pure pot still whiskies. All of these are distilled at Midleton. The Irishman and Writer's Tears brands are unique blends of pure pot still and single malt whiskeys.

Irish whiskey is believed to be one of the earliest distilled beverages in Europe, dating to the mid-12th century (see Distilled beverage). The Old Bushmills Distillery lays claim to being the oldest surviving licenced 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.

Examples

• Blends: Black Bush, Bushmills Original, Inishowen, Jameson, Kilbeggan, Locke's Blend, Midleton Very Rare, Millars, Paddy, Powers, Tullamore Dew, Clontarf, The Irishman Potstill, Writer's Tears
• Pure Pot Still: Green Spot, Jameson 15yr Old Pure Pot Still, Redbreast (12, 15 yrs)
• Single Malt: Bushmills (10, 16, 21 yrs), Connemara Peated Malt (Regular, Cask Strength & 12 yrs), Locke's Single Malt (8 yr), Tyrconnell, The Irishman Single Malt
• Single Grain: Greenore (8, 10 yrs)

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_whiskey

See Also: Florist, Florists, Flower