Irish whiskey

Irish whiskey is barley malt whiskey made in Ireland. Irish whiskey resembles Scotch whisky in its ingredients and production, but peat is much less used in the process, which gives Irish whiskey a smoother, sweeter, flavour, without the smokey and earthy overtones of Scotch. Common wisdom says that the Irish invented whiskey, but the Scots perfected it. Both claims are open to doubt, of course.

There are far fewer distilleries of Irish whiskey than there are distillers of Scotch. Economic difficulties in the last couple of centuries have led to great number of mergers; currently only three distilleries are operating in Ireland, although they each produce a number of different whiskies.

Most Irish whiskey is blended; there are some single malt Irish whiskeys. The distinction generally does not carry as much weight among Irish whiskies as it does among Scotches. Unique to Irish whiskey, and perhaps playing something of the same role as "single malt," is the "pure pot still." This is whiskey produced in a single batch, so it is not a blend; but some of the barley used is not malted, hence it is not a single malt either.

Notable Irish whiskies include:

• Old Bushmills[?]
• Jameson[?]
• Powers[?]
• Tullamore Dew[?]
• Kilbeggan[?]