In recent weeks you might have noticed our very special ‘Whiskey Weekdays’ promotion, celebrating Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey. We offer 3 of our favourite Single Pot Stills Whiskeys, each for a very tasty price for you to experience for yourself.
But What is Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey and why is it so Special?
Well as you might expect from anything worthwhile and Irish, there’s a story behind it.
For this story we are jumping back to the late 1700’s, when the production of whiskey was at its peak, at least when it came to the number of distilleries producing whiskey, with over 1200 distilleries on the island of Ireland (although a lot of these were unlicensed).
Ireland was at the time part of the British Empire, and with the popularity of whiskey growing around the Empire, the British Parliament decided to implement a tax on one of the main ingredients of whiskey, Malted Barley.
Now whether it was out of pure economic strategy or that rebel nature in our Irish blood, but most likely a little touch of both, the Irish distillers decided to lower their tax payment by adding a percentage of un-malted barley to the usual malted barley in the Mash-Bill (The initial ingredients used to make Whiskey) and in the process creating a completely new style of whiskey.
This new style of Irish Whiskey became known as Pure Pot Still Irish Whiskey and quickly became the ‘go to’ style among whiskey drinkers. Between the now lower cost of production combined with its popularity, almost every distillery began to produce Pure Pot Still Whiskey.
Dublin at the time was the home of whiskey production in Ireland and with the growth of popularity of Irish Whiskey, 80% of the Whiskey consumed around the world was coming from one of the distilleries inside Dublin’s Fair City.
This put Pure Pot Still at the pinnacle of the Whiskey World giving it the title as the original and the quintessential style of Irish Whiskey. Ireland now had its very own style of Whiskey.
There has been plenty of ups and downs to Pot Still Whiskey and Irish Whiskey in General since then but that’s for a future Blog.
But enough about the History, let’s talk about the important stuff, Taste!
The adding of malted barley with unmalted barley and the traditional distilling methods of a copper pot still, combines to produce a beautifully oily whiskey that starts with a signature element of spice, moving into a silky smoothness across the palate and finishes with an oily linger that sits longer than expected.
Over the next few weeks, we will be showcasing some amazing Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey, reviewing and tasting our way through some of the most loved Irish Whiskey out there.
And if we’ve made you thirsty, when you can, just pop into the Skeff’s 1852 Whiskey Bar and explore our extensive Irish Whiskey Menu and experience Single Pot Still Whiskey for yourself.
Written by John Byrne, Skeff Marketing Team. @craicandculture
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