I’ve been a little confused about Irish Whiskey distilleries, so after doing a little research I thought I would share my findings with you.
Ireland has only four distilleries, although some of them produce multiple whiskey brands. This is where I was a little confused as I new there was a only a few distilleries but there seems to be many more whiskey brands…
Currently the distilleries operating in Ireland are:
New Midleton Distillery which makes Jameson*, Midleton*, Redbreast* and a few others, owned by Pernod Ricard.
Then there is Old Bushmills Distillery which makes all the Bushmills* range and is owned by Diageo.
The third distillery is Cooley, which today is the only independent Irish-owned whiskey distillery left in Ireland. It has three brands – Connemara*, Greenore* and Tyrconnell*.
And finally, there is the recently re-opened Kilbeggan Distillery. Although the whiskey now in production at Kilbeggan will not be ready for sale until 2014, the three brands associated with the distillery—Kilbeggan, Locke’s Blend and Locke’s Malt have, for many years, been made at the Cooley Distillery.
As a general rule the distinct difference between Irish and Scottish whiskies is that they are normally distilled three times, the exception to the rule is Cooley Distillery who double distill. Apparently the reason for the different spelling is that in the late 19th century when Ireland had many distilleries, the Scots where making a lot of bad whisky. In order to differentiate their prodcut from the inferior (at the time) Scottish product, Irish and American whiskey producers added an ‘e’, as in whiskey. In addtion to the 4 distilleries, you will also find that there are a number of independently owned Irish whiskey brands, such as Tullamore Dew and The Irishman. They are made under contract at the Irish distileries, for example, Tullamore Dew is made at Midletons.
I hope this gives you a little bit more of an understanding of the Irish Whiskey distilleries. (SC)
* The Oak Barrel has whiskies from these distilleries available for purchase.
