The third meeting of the Virtual Whisky tasting group took place on Friday, April 10th at 9pm ET. The focus was on Irish Whiskey.
About Irish Whiskey
Unlike Scottish, Japanese and Canadian whisky, there is an ‘e’ in the Irish variety, and the word comes from the Gaelic uisce beatha, meaning water of life.
Historically extremely popular, Irish Whiskey went through the doldrums in the 20th century, but in the last 30 years has suddenly been through a massive resurgence. Where once you could count the distilleries on one hand, there are now 30+ in an ever-growing sector. The staples used to be Jameson’s, Bushmills and Powers, but now we see many new brands popping up, including Hinch, Dingle, Teeling, Kilbeggan, Glendalough, West Cork, Lambay and Tullamore Dew (reopened after a 60 year break).
Irish Whiskey has traditionally been smoother and (arguably) sweeter than Scottish Whisky, and there are only a few examples of peated whiskies.
Drinking – Irish Whiskey
Other Spirits Discussed
Pernod (and Pastis and Ouzo)
Johnnie Walker Blue and Gold Label
Other Subjects Discussed
The Athletic Arms (aka Diggers), Edinburgh
The Hairy Lemon, Dublin
Variable Pressure Distillation (Finland)
