Last Night's Tipple

Originally, most Irish Whiskey was made from 100% malted barley. Then, in the middle of the 18th Century, Ireland's British overlords instituted a tax on malt. In addition to riots, this provoked the Irish (or, at least, many of them) to stop making their whiskey from all malt but instead to combine both malted and unmalted barley in their mashes. Incidentally, the same is true for Irish beer: the institution of the malt tax in the 18th Century is indirectly responsible for Guinness's recipe for their stout, which contains a percentage of unmalted barley.

Whiskey made in pot stills from a mash of both malted and unmalted barley has come to be known as pot still whiskey, and for two centuries, pure pot still whiskey was synonymous with Irish Whiskey. The end of Prohibition in the US also ended the reign of pure pot still whiskey in Ireland. Irish distillers bet correctly that Prohibition had lightened America's tastes in whiskey, so they began to blend pot still whiskey with column-distilled grain whiskeys to produce a lighter product. Now, virtually all Irish Whiskey is blended. The only two brands that remain pure pot still whiskey are Green Spot, which is rarely if ever seen in the United States, and Redbreast.

Redbreast originated in 1939 as a brand owned by Gilbey's, a wine and spirits company. It was made from Jameson's whiskey, which, at that time and up until 1968 was sold entirely in bulk to independent bottlers. Redbreast was never much of big seller, but Gilbey's continued to bottle it just as it always had been, from 100% pot still whiskey. By the time Irish Distillers acquired the brand in the 1990s, it was a dinosaur. Someone at Irish Distillers (now owned by Pernod Ricard) realized what a gem they had, and it was relaunched as a 12 year old. All of the whiskey that goes into it is distilled at the Midleton Distillery in County Cork, but that's hardly unusual. Most Irish Whiskey comes from there now.

The problem that I have with the blended Irish Whiskey that I have tried from Midleton (Jameson's and Tullamore Dew) is that it has this off aroma that I can only describe as being like dirty sweatsocks. Not appetizing at all to me, but I suppose that some people might like it. That aroma is not at all present in Redbreast. There's a slightly sour smell overlayed by lots of vanilla and nuts. On the palate, it's smooth, smooth, smooth. This whiskey has lots of character and is the best Irish whiskey that I have ever tried. It's not cheap at $42 a fifth, but it is good and well-worth seeking out.