Irish Whiskey
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| Type | Whiskey |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | Ireland |
| Alcohol by volume | 40–94.8% |
| Colour | Pale Gold to Dark Amber |
| Variants | Pot Still Irish Whiskey, Malt Irish Whiskey, Grain Irish Whiskey, Blended Irish Whiskey |
Irish whiskey (Irish: Fuisce or uisce beatha) is whiskey made on the island of Ireland.
The word "whiskey" is an Anglicisation of the first word in the Gaelic phrase, uisce betha, meaning "water of life" (modern Irish: uisce beatha, Scottish: uisge beatha and Manx: ushtey bea). The phrase was a translation of the Latin term aqua vitae, which was commonly used to describe distilled spirits during the Middle Ages.
Peat is rarely used in the malting process, so that Irish whiskey has a smoother finish as opposed to the smoky, earthy overtones common to some Scotches. There are notable exceptions to these rules in both countries; an example is Connemara peated Irish malt (double distilled) whiskey from the Cooley Distillery in Riverstown, Cooley, County Louth.
Irish whiskey was once the most popular spirit in the world, though a long period of decline from the late 19th century onwards greatly damaged the industry. So much so that although Ireland boasted over 30 distilleries in the 1890s, a century later, this number had fallen to just three. However, Irish whiskey has seen a great resurgence in popularity since the late twentieth century, and has been the fastest growing spirit in the world every year since 1990. With exports growing by over 15% per annum in recent years, existing distilleries have been expanded and a number of new distilleries constructed. As of early 2017, Ireland now has sixteen distilleries in operation, with at least a further fourteen in the planning stages. However, only five of these have been operating long enough to have products sufficiently aged for sale, and only one of these was operating prior to 1975.
The word 'whiskey' (or whisky) comes from the Irish (or 'Gaelic') uisce beatha, meaning water of life. Irish whiskey was one of the earliest distilled drinks in Europe, arising around the 12th century (see Distilled beverage). It is believed that Irish monks brought the technique of distilling perfumes back to Ireland from their travels to the Mediterranean countries around 1000 A.D. The Irish then modified this technique to obtain a drinkable spirit. Although termed "whiskey", the spirit produced during this period would have differed from what we currently recognise as whiskey. The uisce beatha or whiskey produced in historical times would not have been aged, and was often flavoured with aromatic herbs such as mint, thyme or anise.Irish Mist, a whiskey liqueur launched in 1963 is purportedly based on such a recipe.
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