"What Whiskey will not cure, there is no cure"
Bushmill's Red Bush is an all ex-Bourbon cask release put out by one of the original, or THE original as they say, Irish Whiskey distillers. Like most of what Bushmill's makes, at least by volume, it's a blend of single malt and single grain just without the few sherry casks they use to make their well known Bushmill's White Label or Black Bush
The Glendalough Distillery was among Ireland's first craft whiskey producers. It was founded by 5 friends with a mutual love of Irish whiskey and steeped in the lore and legend of Ireland. The distillery is located in a narrow glacial valley in the Wicklow mountains, about an hour or so south of Dublin.
History of the Jameson Black Barrel Established in the Irish capital city of Dublin by John Jameson in 1780, the Jameson Whiskey brand is one of the world's oldest distilleries and whiskey brands to have endured for centuries. The brand was established at a time when Irish whiskey dominated the markets and minds of whiskey lovers globally.
Jameson is a blended Irish whiskey produced by the Irish Distillers subsidiary of Pernod Ricard. Originally one of the six main Dublin Whiskeys, Jameson is distilled at the New Midleton Distillery in County Cork. It is by far the best-selling Irish whiskey in the world; in 2019, annual sales passed 8 million cases. It has been sold internationally since the early 19th century, and is available to buy in over 130 countries
Founded by MMA Champion Conor McGregor and named for the southwest area where he hails. McGregor, and his team searched for a place and people that shared the same passion for Ireland and its whiskey. He found this at the oldest whiskey distillery on the Isle of Ireland and with his master distiller created a unique and special. Through much trial and error, they worked together to create a blend of sweet Irish grain and single malt Irish whiskey.
While Slane Irish Whiskey might youthful in the Irish Whiskey market, Slane Castle, home to Slane Distillery, has a long and storied history. Slane's center was designed by the Conyngham Family in the early 18th century and Slane Castle in the 1980's began an amazing run of hosting some of the biggest bands in the world.
Whiskey making and entrepreneurship has been in the Teeling genes as far back as 1782, when Walter Teeling set up a small craft distillery on Marrowbone Lane in the industrial heart of Dublin City.
Since 2012, Jack and Stephen Teeling, the latest generation of Teeling Whiskey makers, have been putting their own mark on Irish Whiskey and came full circle in 2015 when they proudly opened the new Teeling Whiskey Distillery just down the road from where the original family distillery once stood. The Teeling Whiskey Distillery today is the first new distillery in Dublin for over 125 years.
This is NOT a flavored whiskey; it is hidden gem. Don't misunderstand the label, this excellent edition is not an apple flavored whiskey. It's merely finished in casks that were formerly used to make cider. The result is an incredibly smooth yet full bodied Irish whiskey. And it is amazingly good stuff!
West Cork Distillers, in partnership with its U.S. importer M.S. Walker, has introduced their new limited release IPA Cask Finished Irish Whiskey. West Cork IPA Cask Finished is a 75:25 blend of Irish wheat and malted Irish barley, triple distilled in copper pot stills and aged in first-fill bourbon casks for four years.
Bushmills is the oldest licensed distillery in Ireland, with a history that dates back to 1608 when King James I granted a license to Sir Thomas Phillips to distill whiskey in the area of the River Bush in County Antrim in what is today Northern Ireland. Whiskey has been distilled in the area since at least the 13th century, when an Irish general supposedly held a drinking session before going into battle with his troops. Bushmills itself was not officially founded until 1784, and the distillery building was constructed in 1885 and has been making the famed whiskey ever since. Today, the distillery is owned by Jose Cuervo, reflecting the growing international demand for Irish whiskey and the increasing global dominance of Irish businesses.
The Dead Rabbits were a notorious Irish immigrant street gang whose sworn enemies were the nativist anti-immigrant Bowery Boys. Their antagonism came to a head in a notorious riot that raged for days in 1857. Up to a thousand gang members were involved before order was finally restored. The leader of the Dead Rabbits was John Morrissey, a notorious figure who would later go on to become a Democratic congressman and senator. Darryl McNally is the Master Distiller for The Dublin Liberties Whiskey Company and one of Ireland's leading experts on Irish whiskey.
Green Spot is a 100% pure pot still whiskey that can trace its roots to the early 1900s, when Jamesons sold whiskey to wine merchants Mitchell & Son. In those days it was common practice for wine merchants and publicans to bottle their own whiskey but sell it under the distiller's brand name.
For Caskmates they took Jameson Original and finished it in stout-seasoned whiskey barrels from Irish microbrewery Franciscan Well. If you're keeping track at home, that means these barrels were first used for Jameson whiskey, then used to age an Irish Stout from Franciscan Well Brewery, before finally returning home to Jameson
In 1966, Mark Edwin Andrews purchased Knappogue Castle, a 15th century castle in Ireland, which was then in ruins. He and his wife, a prominent architect, then embarked on an ambitious program of restoration, in an effort to return the structure to its original state of glory and grandeur. It was around this time that Andrews began buying casks of fine pot still whiskey
from top distilleries in the country. The casks were further aged and bottled under what is now the Knappogue Castle label.
In a country that not only cherishes its whiskey but celebrates it, being the most popular whiskey speaks for itself. Powers Gold Label, with its mildly spicy pot-still character, has become just that. Powers witnesses more consumption of their offering within the country than abroad. The brand gained renewed popularity with their relaunch in 2013. The story of the brand of Powers, however, goes back more than 200 hundred years in time.
The origins of Tullamore D.E.W. date back to 1829, when a distillery was established in Tullamore by Michael Molloy. On his death, the distillery eventually passed to his nephew, Bernard Daly who later appointed Daniel E. Williams as the distillery's General Manager. Under Williams's watchful eye, the distillery expanded and prospered, launching the whiskey bearing his initials (D.E.W.), Tullamore D.E.W..
When the lads started out, it made very little economic sense to open a distillery, but the McCarthy cousins were eager for a change in career and there was a tradition of distilling in the O'Connell family. John came from a long line of distillers – albeit the illegal variety. His father came from Coppeen in the Coolea Mountains, the poitin heartland of west Cork, where many families ran their own stills. With that bit of knowledge, the lads set about making spirits.
Distilling began in a small room at the back of Den's house in 2003 and it wasn't until 2014 that the operation moved to Market Street in Skibbereen. As the business expanded, much of the distillery equipment was hand built as needed, such as the Rocket, reported to be 'the fastest still in the world' at the time. In 2020, the new distillery at Marsh Road, Skibbereen will open, making us the largest, wholly Irish owned distillery in the country.
Writer's Tears finds inspiration in the 19th and early 20th century, when Ireland was a golden era both for Irish whiskey and, perhaps coincidentally, for great Irish novelists, poets and playwrights—George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett and Bram Stoker, to name but a few.
"Whiskey is what beer wants to be when it grows up"