Irish Whiskey: Stories and Sips

In November 2019 I stood in the lobby of the Aloft Hotel in the Liberties area of Dublin city. For the first time in more than 70 years the roofs and buildings of four operating Irish whiskey distilleries could be seen - Pearse Lyons Distillery, Teeling Distillery, Roe & Co and the focus of this week’s podcast, the Dublin Liberties Distillery.    In fact as I marveled at the return of distilling to Ireland’s capital, right on cue, a truck full of barley arrived, ready for Master Distiller Darryl McNally to turn it into single malt irish whiskey and I watched as its contents were magically emptied from the truck straight in through the wall of the Dublin Liberties Distillery.    Darryl has spent his whole working life in Irish whiskey and the Dublin Liberties Distillery is his chance to put his very own stamp on whiskey that he’s been keen to make for years. In this episode of stories and sips, I have the pleasure of chatting with a master of his craft and a mentor to many up and coming young distillers.    I was not going to let a chance to chat with a Master Distiller of Darryl’s calibre go to waste and made sure to dive deep into such topics as:   - What Darryl believes makes for a good Master Distiller - What he considered when building his whiskey portfolio at Dublin Liberties Distillery - What it takes to build a distillery from the ground up - What a career at Ireland’s oldest distillery, Bushmills, taught him about single malt and running a distillery - What the DNA of his own whiskey is.

Irish whiskey has a fascinating past - we’ve had many great conversations about the rise and fall and rise again of Irish whiskey on this podcast. One of the most fascinating aspects to me of Irish whiskeys past is the role of whiskey bonders and bottlers - those middlemen who purchased casks of whiskey from the distilleries and bottled under their own label or matured the whiskeys further, selling the whiskeys on in their own pub or distributing to others to sell.

In October this year, Ireland had 34 operating Irish whiskey distilleries. As we settle in to November, we now find ourselves with 36 distilleries on the island of Ireland producing Irish whiskey.  The newest distillery, Glendree Distillery, is located in Glendree in East Clare, on a winding mountain road on a slope of the Slieve Aughty Mountains, at the family farm of founders Paul and Alex Loudon.

Before Irish whiskey as we know it today, there was a different spirit, the precursor to whiskey, the spirit that every house in Ireland had a drop of or participated in the making of. I’m talking of course about Poitín (pronounced pot-cheen). If you think the story of Irish whiskey is the greatest rollercoaster ride in the history of Irish spirits, then you’ve not yet heard the turbulent, thrilling, story of Poitín.

For every whiskey business, there are hundreds of ancillary businesses that, working together, help us get the whiskey into our glass wherever we are in the world.    One of these businesses is IrishMalts, an online spirits retailer founded in 2018 by two brothers from Cork. You see, the story's already good!    Robert and John O'Donovan have been busy supporting the growth of Irish whiskey since founding their business, finding ways to make it easier for smaller whiskey companies to list products for sale and distribution, and by offering a service that not only helps distilleries and brands sell their products more easily but by getting that product into customer's hands and bellies around the world faster.   

Before the available choices of single pot still whiskey stretched beyond two – Green Spot and Redbreast 12, one man had fallen in love with both the spirit and its history. Today, Fionnán O’Connor, my guest on the podcast, is recognized as one of the foremost experts on the history of single pot still whiskey. His book A Glass Apart, published in October 2015, is recognized as the definitive guide to Irish pot still whiskey today. This episode is the second part of a two-part series (Part 1 here) on the topic of single pot still whiskey, its history and its future and is a continuation of my conversation with Fionnan O’Connor.    

Irish single pot still whiskey is in the midst of a welcome resurgence. Once one of the best selling styles of whiskey in the world, its rollercoaster journey has been well documented on this podcast and elsewhere. Though the Midleton distillery was the only distillery in Ireland producing this style from the early 1970s until 2012 when Dingle Distillery began production, today there are more than a dozen producers of Ireland’s unique style of whiskey with more in the pipeline. Before the available choices of single post still whiskey stretched beyond two - Green Spot and Redbreast 12, one man had fallen in love with both the spirit and its history. Today, Fionnán O’Connor, my guest on the podcast, is recognized as one of the foremost experts on the history of single pot still whiskey.

In this episode of Stories & Sips I spent a very enjoyable afternoon chatting with Jarlath Watson, global brand ambassador and part of the founding team of the extraordinary Echlinville distillery. We sipped on some Dunville's Irish whiskey and I learned more about the history of this storied brand and Echlinville’s impressive approach to growing, malting and distilling.

It’s been 175 years since legal distilling has happened in Ireland’s North Western-most county of Donegal. That changed with the establishment of Sliabh Liag Distillers - founded by husband and wife team James and Moira Doherty who uprooted their family from Hong Kong to pursue a passion.

He built an Irish pub group, he became the world’s biggest seller of Jameson, he launched his own Irish whiskey, he sold the pubs, he sold the whiskey and he’s still not done. In this episode of Stories & Sips, I chat with Co. Mayo native Kieran Folliard about his extraordinary drinks adventure in Minnesota and what it took to sell more Jameson than anywhere else on earth.

Daithí O’Connell is the founder of W.D. O’Connell Whiskey Merchants. It's safe to say that the whiskey merchants of old didn't have previous experience flying planes in the Middle East or setting up pubs and financial technology companies in Asia, but Daithí is a modern whiskey merchant with a hint of the renaissance man about him. It might just be the beard...

John Quinn serves as global brand ambassador for Tullamore D.E.W., one of the most recognized brands in Irish whiskey, a company he has played a role in growing since his early days with Irish Distillers. In 2016, John was named Whiskey Brand Ambassador of the year by Whisky Magazine’s Icons of Whisky Awards, and in December 2018 he was appointed as Vice Chairman of the Irish Whiskey Association. In 2019, John became the first Irish whiskey global ambassador to be inducted into the Whisky Magazine Hall of Fame. He is a legend of Irish whiskey and the hundreds of brand ambassadors that preach the Irish whiskey gospel around the world stand on his shoulders. He was there as Irish whiskey battled for survival. He’s there today in the midst of growth that could never have been imagined in the 1970s. We can all learn from his perspective and experience. I hope you enjoy our chat. A kinder, more genuine, passionate, knowledgeable gentleman you won’t find in the world of whiskey.

Growing up even closer to a distillery than I did, this week’s guest Jack Ferris, is the United States National Brand Ambassador for Bushmills. I’ve fallen more and more in love with the single malts from Bushmills over the past year and I had questions, many questions for Jack about Bushmills past, present and future. I hope you enjoy our chat. 

This is the first episode in a series of conversations I'll be having with the founding team of Ireland Craft Beverages. They are about to launch their first ever Irish whiskey and are allowing me to follow that journey as they set about getting it on shelves all over the world. Launching a whiskey brand is no small undertaking and I hope you're as interested in me in learning what it takes. In this first in our series following the journey of Two Stacks Irish whiskey, I chat with co-founder Liam Brogan. 

Teeling has remained a bit of an enigma to me over the past few years as I've tried to get my head around the myriad of brands they produce. To put me straight and get my head around the company and their approach, I sat down with Robert Caldwell, Teeling Global Brand Ambassador to help me understand what Teeling is all about, the philosophy behind its distillation and maturation and what we might expect from them going forward. 

Today we are seeing a resurgence in demand for Ireland’s quintessential style of Irish whiskey - pot still whiskey. New distilleries all over the country are distilling and maturing single pot still whiskey in the hopes that it once again becomes the world’s most consumed and demanded Irish whiskey. In the late 1700s and throughout the 1800s and well into the 1900s single pot still whiskey ruled the world. As domestic and global events played out in the 1900s, from prohibition to trade wars to Scottish and American competitors seizing upon opportunities, that style of whiskey faded in popularity to the point where it all but disappeared by the 1970s. However, one brand never died out - never faded away and never disappeared from shelves and that is Green Spot Irish whiskey. Today, Green Spot is joined by many other siblings in the spot range of whiskeys and every label bears a family a name - the Mitchell family. The Mitchell & Son firm of wine, whiskey and spirit merchants created this famous brand in the late 1800s and to this day are still involved in its production and distribution. Legendary in the world of Irish whiskey, the Mitchell family ensured that single pot still whiskey bearing the Spot name never faded into obscurity. This week I spent a wonderful afternoon chatting with Jonathan Mitchell, sixth generation of the Mitchell family to lead the company and oversee the wine and whiskey business. He has had a front row seat to the remarkable changes that have occurred in the world of Irish whiskey in the past 50 years and was instrumental in ensuring the survival and promotion of single pot still whiskey bearing the spot name. I could have chatted with Jonathan all day, and hope to again in the future. I hope you enjoy the remarkable stories he shared with me.

Outspoken and passionate, Peter Mulryan is determined to build on Irish whiskey's rich, diverse history and recipes, and with a healthy pour of innovation ensure that his Irish whiskey takes advantage of the best of Irish whisky’s past and present. I’m a fan of what Peter and his team at Blackwater Distillery are doing and in advance of the launch of their newest sourced whiskey, Velvet Cap, I'm excited to share our chat with you. 

One woman has been part of the story of Dingle and the distillery since before this crazy idea to distill in one of Europe’s most westerly towns was hatched. Her name is Mary Ferriter and there is no Dingle Distillery without her. As General Manager and Global Ambassador for the Dingle Distillery, she has observed and managed its growth from a unique perch. In this episode of stories I chat with Mary about the early days of the distillery and the story behind the now-well known brand.

The rise in demand for Irish whiskey around the world over the past ten years has led to the building of new distilleries in Ireland and the establishment of new whiskey brands, bonders and bottlers. This evolving mixture of established multi-century brands and new risk-taking upstarts makes for a more diverse, more energetic and more interesting Irish whiskey landscape than we’ve had in Ireland in more than a century. Fueled by passion and pride, these new entrants are putting their money where their mouth is and risking money and time to build something new, something exciting and something they can put their own stamp on. In 2016, Louise McGuane, founder of J.J. Corry Irish Whiskey welcomed the first of many whiskey casks to her family farm in Co. Clare in Ireland. In this episode of Stories & Sips, I chat with Louise about her unique business in the world of Irish whiskey, why whiskey barrels are delivered to her farm and how she has carved out a loyal fan base of Irish whiskey enthusiasts all around the world for her honest approach and downright good whiskey.

In the fight for Irish rights in the early 1800s, there is one dominant name - Daniel O’Connell - known as The Liberator or The Emancipator. O’Connell, a Kerryman,  campaigned for Catholic emancipation - including the right for Catholics to sit in the Westminster Parliament, something that was denied for more than 100 years—and repeal of the Acts of Union which combined Great Britain and Ireland. He was a legendary figure and had an outsized impact on the plight of the Irish two short centuries ago. There have been many intersections between the O'Connell family and alcohol over the years (some legitimate, others not so much) and today one particular descendant, Maurice O’Connell hopes to celebrate his family’s history and impact with the establishment of his whiskey company Wayward Irish Spirits.  Maurice has great plans for the beautiful family estate near Killarney in the south west of Ireland and I was keen to learn more about what he hopes to achieve and what prompted him to get involved with Irish whiskey.

This week I caught up with Eric Ryan - a man with a remarkable range of experience, knowledge and historical interest in whiskey and especially whiskey from Cork in the south of Ireland, where we’re both from. Eric is a founding member of the Cork Whiskey Society, founder and host of the Cork Whiskey Walk, which I was lucky enough to join Eric for last year, and he applies his brewing and distilling knowledge working at the Midleton Distillery. While the county of Cork may be most well known in the whiskey world as the home of the Midleton distillery which produces Jameson and Redbreast and Powers and myriad other spirits, there are hundreds of years of ups and downs, fortunes made and fortunes lost, amalgamations and consolidations that have led us to the present whiskey landscape in Ireland and Cork has been right at the centre of it for more than 400 years. This history of Cork and the history of Cork whiskey are one and the same and they make for fascinating stories. Eric and I could have chatted for days such are the number of stories he has and the number of rabbit holes we could have gone down, but we managed to keep the conversation to a reasonable time.

This year, the much-anticipated first whiskey releases will leave the gates of Waterford Distillery. The distillery's intense approach to all aspects of whiskey production, starts long before distillation or fermentation or even harvesting of the barley. It begins months in advance of the sowing through nurtured partnerships and planning with the farmers who'll supply the crop. This is the part that Grace O'Reilly, Ireland's only distillery-employed agronomist oversees. I chatted with Grace about her role, the difference Waterford's approach has to the final product and what she has learned in this exciting new role. 

The growing demand for Irish whiskey has inspired new innovation by Irish whiskey distilleries across every aspect of fermentation, distillation and maturation. It's not just the distilleries that are innovating either. New whiskey brands are finding unique ways to collaborate with distilleries to bring products to the market that may not have become a reality without such a collaboration. One of these collaborations has launched this week and may indeed be a world's first. In this episode of Stories & Sips, I sit down with Patrick Shelley, founder of Origin Spirits, who this week launches his first whiskey, Currach Single Malt Irish Whiskey. What's unique and innovative about another new Irish whiskey, you might ask? Well this one marries Ireland's land and sea with the single malt whiskey finished in Irish seaweed casks - a first for the Irish whiskey industry. Patrick brings a unique global perspective and Irish pride to this whiskey and I love the collaboration and even a touch of madness that was needed to bring this to market. I hope you enjoy his story.

As someone who grew up in a “Powers house” - that is, a house that stocked a bottle of Powers “just in case” (in case of what was never made clear) I have come to understand the enduring love that people have not just for Powers whiskey, but for the Powers brand.   It is a storied brand, a beloved brand, a part of Irish history and an integral part of Irish whiskey past, present and hopefully future.   This enduring love for Powers started with the Powers family, the decisions they made, the way they treated their employees and the large imprint they left on their communities and country.   It may be more than 220 years since James Power first distilled his eponymous whiskey in John’s Lane in Dublin, and though his whiskey and the entire industry saw their fair share of ups and downs since then, demand for Powers is growing globally and I wager that the reason for this growth is bigger than the whiskey alone.   In this episode of Stories & Sips I share some of the stories I learned from my day with Carol Quinn, Irish Distillers Archivist at the Midleton Distillery where we pored over Powers memorabilia and whiskeys dating back more than 100 years to understand why we are still fascinated and excited by a brand and a whiskey that could have been left in the annals of history, yet today is going from strength to strength.   Sláinte.

In the 1800s, the city of Limerick on the banks of the River Shannon, played a prominent role in the production and eventual export of Irish whiskey to the four corners of the world. It’s been 101 years since the last distillery in Limerick went silent but one man is determined to restore the city to its former whiskey distilling glory. Building on the rich distilling heritage of this important Irish port city, Limerick native Nick Ryan has a plan to bring distilling back to the city that gave so much to Irish distilling yet is often overlooked when the story of Irish whiskey is told. His ambitious plan is not just a dream; the first steps have already been taken with the launch of his whiskey brand Thomond Gate Whiskey. In this episode of Stories & Sips, I make the most of the joys of video conferencing to ask Nick how he intends to make his dream a reality and what he can share about Thomond Gate Whiskey and his current Single Pot Still Whiskey. This is the first in a series of interviews I’ll conduct over the coming months, featuring the people and passion behind the independent whiskey projects that are in the works in Ireland. I’m a firm believer in supporting those who are risking their time, money and even more to do something big and to fulfill lifelong ambitions. After all, didn’t the success of Jameson globally start with one man in Dublin in 1780 taking a risk?

On a warm summer's day last year, my buddy Omar Fitzell from thatsdramgood.com and I managed to talk our way into the famed Distiller's Cottage on the hallowed grounds of the Old Midleton Distillery (now silent). This is the cottage where Midleton Master Distiller Emeritus Barry Crockett was born. Today it is home to the Irish Distillers Archive and hosts the members of the Midleton Cask Circle, a club for purchasers of casks of Midleton whiskey. We sat, we sipped, we told stories and we somehow managed to drag ourselves out again (before they threw us out) after sampling some of the greatest whiskeys produced in the Midleton Distillery.

There’s a whiskey/whisky revolution happening in the south east of Ireland at the moment. Waterford, a county more historically associated with cut crystal than whiskey, is now turning whiskey production on its head in Ireland. I spent a jaw-dropping day with the team at Waterford Distillery to learn about their approach, their beliefs and sample some of their maturing spirit. In this episode of Stories & Sips, I share my thoughts on the visit, their philosophy and what it means for the Irish whiskey industry. 

I was lucky enough to spend some time in New York recently with Beam Suntory Irish Whiskey portfolio brand ambassador Janice Snowden who walked us through the tales and tastes of these amazing whiskey brands and their sister brand Connemara. The Kilbeggan and Cooley Distillery where these brands are distilled have played a vital role in the Irish whiskey industry of the distant past and indeed of the more recent past and if it wasn't for the vision of believers in the Irish whiskey category, we wouldn't have anything to report on today. Enjoy!

This episode of Stories and Sips comes all the way from New York where we sit down and chat with Clonakilty Distillery brand ambassador Peter Shannon about Ireland's 23rd operating distillery Clonakilty Distillery in West Cork. It might be 9.30am in the morning but it's the right time to be tasting some of their current releases and talking about their plans for the distillery and visitor center!

Anyone familiar with the struggle of putting pen to paper on a consistent basis to create, to craft, to tell a story will be all too familiar with the paralyzing phenomenon known as writer’s block – where no matter how long you stare at the page, nothing materializes in ink. Ireland is of course, synonymous with great writers, who at some point or other would have fallen prey to this very block. Legend had it that these Irish writers would cry tears of whiskey in desperation, either indicating just how much whiskey was pumping through their body or that we have great imaginations in Ireland. Today, any mention of Writers tears can mean only one thing – a fantastic Irish whiskey from Walsh Whiskey.

In this week's episode of Stories & Sips, we're going to delve deep into the past to discover the Hollywood-esque story of an American, his Irish castle and the legacy of the incredible whiskeys he left behind – three of which I sip on in this episode - three single malts of distinction from Knappogue Castle, a name inspired by a famous castle in County Clare in Ireland. This is an incredible story of Irish ancestry, restoration, whiskey deals and whiskey unicorns and I throw in a few tourist spots to visit in Clare to tack onto your visit to Knappogue Castle too.

In this episode we're going to take a journey back in time and for the first time on Stories and Sips we’re going north of the border – very topical these days – to Northern Ireland, to introduce you to a very influential whiskey from Irish history that is making an exciting comeback today! We're going to dive into the amazing history of Dunville's Old Irish Whiskey and the new story being told by Echlinville Distillery in Co. Down. Echlinville is the first new distillery in Northern Ireland in more than 100 years and their dedication the past while focusing on the future is making for some fantastic whiskeys and equally good stories.

Less than an hour’s drive west from Dublin, lies the small town of Kilbeggan - a town that has been home to many distilleries over the years and it’s obvious why - there’s plenty of fresh water to turn into whiskey and bogs to provide the fuel to power the stills and Westmeath itself is a great barley producing county   The most famous of these distilleries, acknowledged as the oldest licensed distillery in the world dating back to 1757 was John Locke and Sons Distillery and it was this distillery that brought an Irish government to its knees.

The floozy in the jacuzzi, the tart with the cart, the hags with the bags….Dubliners are fond of adding a nickname to the monuments that pop around their city. Fitting then that the arrival of a new distillery with an unusual roof would earn itself a moniker of its own. In this episode we’re going back to the golden triangle of whiskey making in Ireland’s capital city – to talk about the Liberties Lantern, the affectionate name given to the new Pearse Lyons Distillery.

A county in Ireland that five years ago didn’t have a single distillery is an unlikely location for some of the greatest innovation in the Irish whiskey world today, but a small county in the sunny south east of Ireland is leading a whiskey revolution. In this second episode of 2019, we’re off to Waterford. We’re heading due East from the last episode where we went behind the scenes at the old Midleton Distillery. This week we’re an hour’s drive from Midleton in a county whose name and capital city to most Americans and especially to generations of Irish Americans is synonymous with the famous crystal that for years was the standard gift for weddings. But the county is making a fast name for itself in the whiskey world. We examine that in this week's episode exploring Waterford Distillery, Blackwater Distillery, Henry Downes Bar and Revolution Bar.

Welcome to Episode 18 of Stories & Sips, the final episode from my whiskey trip to Ireland late last year and the first video of 2019. I’m especially excited to bring this episode to you as I sharing what was for me a highlight of 2018. This week we're going to the Midleton distillery in Co.Cork, Ireland for a very special behind-the-scenes experience.

After a busy first day of whiskey tourism in Dublin, the second day has to be taken a little more slowly! But then again, there are sights to be seen... In this episode I visit the beautiful Pearse Lyons Distillery in the Liberties, take a tour of John's Lane, the original home of Power's whiskey and I spend two arduous days sampling whiskeys at Whiskey Live!

This week's episode of Stories & Sips comes live from Dublin in Ireland which is seeing a resurgence in Irish whiskey production, 40 years since the last distillery closed in the city. I visit the newest operational distillery, Teeling, and take a blending class at the original home of Jameson, the Bow St. distillery before ending my day at the launch of a special whiskey at The Palace Bar.

By the end of this episode, some of you will want to hang me, and others will have a new-found respect for Irish whiskey. Either way I’m going to talk about how to introduce yet more people to the joys of Irish whiskey in ways that may seem sacrilegious to some, but hopefully will help increase the reach of our lovely brown water.

In 1791, a man not satisfied with operating a tavern in the old liberties area of Dublin decided to start making his own whiskey. This decision would affect the fate of the Irish whiskey industry for more than 200 years. His name was James Power and we will be toasting him, his family and his whiskey in this episode.

Irish whiskey has done more than satiated our thirst, it has in fact changed the world. In this episode of stories and sips we look at the incredible connection between Irish whiskey and the invention of radio.

In this episode of Stories and Sips, you get two Irish people for the price of one as I'm joined by Jameson Brand Ambassador Lisa McGrath who shares the story of Jameson Black Barrel and leads us through a tasting of this wonderful whiskey.

In 1825, three Murphy brothers purchased an old woolen mills in Midleton in County Cork and converted it into a distillery on the banks of the Dungourney River…a distillery that over the past 200 years has evolved into one of the world’s greatest whiskey distilleries. 9 years later in 1834 and 70 miles away to the north west, construction was also underway in the village of Adare in Co. Limerick as the 2nd earl of Dunraven began converting an old Georgian house on the Maigue River into what has today become one of the world’s greatest manor houses and hotels - Adare Manor. In this episode of Stories and Sips I’ll share the story of how these two great houses - one a whiskey house and the other a house of hospitality have come together to produce something amazing.

In this episode of Stories & Sips we’re talking about dolphins, and distilleries. That can only mean one thing. We’re talking about one of the most westerly towns in Europe - the remote, the insane, the magical town of Dingle in County Kerry, or to the Irish speakers amongst you, An Daingean i gContae Chiarrai.

According to the Irish Whiskey Association, combined sales of Irish whiskey are growing at a rate of 250,000 bottles a week. This year will be the first year in over 100 years that Irish whiskey sales globally will top 10 million cases. 90 million liters of whiskey will flow down the throats of lucky drinkers around the world. That’s enough whiskey to…..well….to have a good time! In this episode we’ll explore the reasons behind this growth.

If you were a visitor to Ireland 60 years ago (which in itself would have been a rare thing) and you wanted a bottle of whiskey...if you had gone to the distillery to find it in a gift shop or for sale there, you’d have been laughed at. Not only was there no real tourism to Ireland at the time, there were certainly no gift shops in distilleries and though they might have produced the whiskey, they didn’t sell it to customers. In this episode I’m going to explain why.

A Jameson TV commercial a few years ago tells the tale of how John Jameson saved his precious whiskey from The Great Dublin Fire of 1789. In order to save his whiskey from the flames engulfing the city, he singlehandedly saves his precious liquid by breaking a dam, flooding Dublin and ensuring his whiskey didn’t go to waste. A fanciful tale, that is of course a work of fiction. But it pales in comparison to the real fire of Dublin almost a hundred years later where it was the whiskey that did the damage and almost wiped out the city. We’re going to tell that tale in this episode.

It is a widely known truth that the best way to drink Irish whiskey is while sitting in a green field, in the shadow of a distillery, while fair maidens dance around you singing the haunting lyrics of Carrickfergus. If you don’t have access to a green field, an Irish distillery or a host of fair maidens, but if you can at least get your hands on a drop of our lovely brown water, then this episode of Stories and Sips is for you.

Midleton, a small farming town in East Cork, a half hour’s drive from Cork City is the unlikely center of the world for Irish whiskey. Unlikely, maybe in terms of its size (population 12000) humility or the fact that it doesn’t have any airs of superiority, but not unlikely when you consider its location. Built on the Dungourney river a great fresh water source, and within 100 miles of all the barley it needs, it has the perfect location to distill the world’s most famous Irish whiskeys. In fact 90% of the Irish whiskeys on the market are either completely distilled in this small town or use its grain whiskey in their blends. Brands you’ll be familiar with like Jameson, Powers, Paddy, Redbreast, Green Spot, Yellow Spot, Tullamore Dew are all born in Midleton. In this episode I share the history of the Midleton distillery and its whiskeys.

What I love about Irish whiskey is that it is far more than the taste, the flavor, the bottle or the label. With many Irish whiskeys you are sipping the product of hundreds of years of history. Hundreds of years of stories. Stories of growth, stories of acquisition, of mergers, of big wins and even bigger losses, of characters unique to Ireland. Characters that have shaped not just their businesses but the industry and indeed Ireland itself. One such man is forever immortalized on every bottle of whiskey that bears the word Tullamore. Many Americans I speak to about whiskey have assumed that the DEW in tullamore refers to the moisture found on the grass on the hills of Ireland as dawn breaks, but closer inspection of the bottle, reveals DEW to be an acronym, an acronym for the man that made Tullamore famous. His name was Daniel E Williams and he was one of the characters that changed the Irish whiskey industry forever.

There's more to Irish whiskey than the liquid in the bottle or the label adorning it's glass. Behind the whiskey are stories, some fact, some fiction, but my favorite whiskeys are strongly influenced by the stories behind them. In this episode, recorded for those new to Irish whiskey as well as the new distilleries popping up all over Ireland, I share why whiskey stories matter.