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St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner on March 17 and Irish Whiskey is a common drink enjoyed to celebrate the day. Jameson is the best-known brand (and also my favorite among Irish whiskeys), but numerous others are popular and range in price from affordable to really expensive. Here are some other facts that you may not know.
- The world’s oldest whiskey distillery is Irish – Bushmills Irish whiskey was granted a distilling license back in 1608 making it the oldest whiskey distillery on Earth.
- Irish whiskey is made in a pot still – pot stills come in many shapes and sizes, but they all are made of copper and this is a common element in the production of Irish whiskey.
- Single pot still whiskey is king – similar to single malt Scotch, single pot still Irish whiskey is a high-end product with a price to match. Green Spot and Redbreast are two of the more popular whiskies in this category.
- Irish whiskey can be blended or single malt – just like Scotch, both varieties exist and there is also a third category of Irish malt whiskey which uses malted barley only.
- There are restrictions similar to Scotch whiskey – Irish whiskeys are generally younger than Scotch with Jameson aged for a minimum of four years. Scotch can only use natural enzymes during the fermentation process and Irish whiskey can use added enzymes. There are other more detailed similarities and differences as well.
- Irish whiskey is becoming more popular – even though Scotch has a bigger footprint on store shelves, Irish whiskey is quickly catching up and becoming more prevalent.
- The traditional Irish toast is "Slante'!" (pronounced SLAHN-cha) - The literal tranlation from Gaelic is "health," but it's basically the equivalent of "Cheers."
These are just a few things to know about Irish whiskey. More details can be found here. Bottoms up!
photo: Getty Images Source: TastingTable