Irish Whiskey for St Patricks Day

Irish Whiskey (note that letter e), is the first whisky, the oldest whiskey, and a very differentspirit from Scotch. It used to be, back in the 19th century, that Irish was THE whiskey in most pubs and bars in England and North America. Then as now, Irish whiskey was big and bold. But in the early 20th century the Scottish distillers began marketing their blended whiskies, adding neutral grain spirits to the pot still malt whisky to make milder, more accessible brands that caught on with the global market and began to shoulder Irish out of the way. Two disasters in a row then struck the Irish distillers. The first was Prohibition in the US, which collapsed the big US market for Irish whiskey. The second was the war for Irish Independence from Britain, which hurt all things Irish in the prime market for their whiskey, England. When the dust settled, Scotch was the world's whisky and Irish had slipped to a distant second place. But Ireland's great whiskeys are recovering some of that ground today, with their big flavor profiles and lush, smooth palates. The biggest differences from Scotch are the absence ofpeat notes, because despite its abundance in Ireland, the Irish don't use peat to heat their malting kilns, plus the spicy taste provided by using unmalted barley mixed in with the malt in the brewed mash. For historical reasons, Irish whiskeys are nearly all made in the same distillery complex, at Midleton outside Cork. Irish whiskey was legal while Scotch was not in the early and mid-19th century, so Irish distilling came out of hiding and moved into the cities. There, the ways of capitalism soon concentrated the business among a few big players and a handful of distilleries. More recently the whole business was centralized under a single business banner. Then it was bought by the French (Pernod Ricard) and broken up again. Even more recently than that a slew of new brands and labels have appeared in the US market to joust with the established favorites such as Jameson's, Bushmills andTullamore Dew. My favorite is Jameson, which we sell at Aroma Thyme Bistro, here in Ellenville. Of course nothing is simple in this world, and John Jameson, who founded the company, was, what else, a Scot. But, that's all uiskebeagh under the bridge, as it were and Jameson has been synonymous with Irish whiskey all over the world for a century or more. There's a sweet heart to this whiskey that is unmistakeable, and the spiciness of the unmalted barley is there, with a slight oiliness that floats the other flavors across the tongue. A drop of Jameson to accompany a pint of stout is a wonderful way to end the day. For variety you can switch to Bushmills, which is still made in Country Antrim, in Northern Ireland and comes in a variety of forms these days, from the white label, through Black Bush, a blend mostly of single malt Bushmills matured in sherry casks, and up to the 10, 16 and 21 year old single malt varieties, which are all lovely things to be savored and sipped while thinking of that gorgeous green Island far across the sea.Chris Rowley