Whiskey in Ireland

On any tours of Ireland I hope that you will get to taste some of the local whiskey.

The whiskey that most of the world drinks is spelled without the E , as in “Scotch Whisky”.

But Irish whiskey once dominated the world market.

Besides the spelling of the word , the main difference between Scotch and Irish is that Scotch features malted , or germinated , barley , and Irish uses a wide variety of grains including both malted and unmalted barleys. Other crucial differencesinclude the tendencyfor the Scottish product to blend various whiskeys and for the Irish to distill multiple times.

We do not know when or where the first whiskey was distilled , although it seems to have been a Celt who did it.

The earliest written references are a 1494 record from Scotland and a 1556 Irish law.

Whiskey , however , was drunk far earlier than this. English soldiers under Henry the second allegedly brought whiskey back home with them from Ireland in 1174.

Legend further has it that in the early Middle Ages , travelling Catholic clerics imported distlling technology directly or indirectly from the Middle East.

The etymology of the word whiskey ( from the Irish language “uisce beatha” ) indicates a Celtic origin.

The golden age of whiskey-making in Ireland lasted from the 1600s , when massive amounts of the liquor were consumed on both sides of the Irish sea.

Principal brands of Irish whiskey today include Bushmills , Jameson , Power , Paddy , Connemara , Locke’s , Tullamore Dew , and Middleton Reserve.

Why not try a tour of the Bushmills Distillery on one of our Belfast tours.

Certainly try Irish whiskey on any Ireland tours !!!!

Jameson 12 Irish Whiskey