The Return of the Smoky Irish

For a long time, Whiskey from Ireland was not immediately thought of as having a smoky aroma. Irish distilleries often triple distil their Whiskey, which makes it much milder. It has also become rare to kiln-dry the barley over peat fires, which would impart the characteristic smoky flavour to the barley and the resulting Whiskey. Today, it is mainly Whiskies from the Scottish Islands and the Highlands that have a smoky aroma. With Irish Whiskey, we tend to expect a mild taste. But that was not always the case. Throughout Whisky history, there have always been differences between the Scots and the Irish, be it about the invention or the spelling of Whisky.

There are various theories and lores about who 'invented' Whisky and, more importantly, where it happened. Some sources say that Irish monks began distilling Whisky as early as the 6th century. Elsewhere, there is talk of the first documented mention of Whisky: it is not until years later, in 1494, that written evidence of the water of life is found in Scotland. The monk John Cor from the Scottish county of Fife is mentioned in the so-called 'Exchequer Rolls', the tax documents. In 1494 he bought malt to distil 'Aquavite', the water of life, on orders of King James IV. But who's to say there were no Irish distilleries producing under local 'law' before that? Or Scottish ones too? We have no certainty and no time machines - so both parties will probably insist on their opinion and the point of view of being the inventors of Whisky.

The difference in spelling also goes back to a dispute between Irish and Scottish Whisky producers. Until the 19th century, Whisky was produced exclusively in pot stills. And this original pot still Whisky is spelled without the 'e' in front of the 'y'. In 1826, the column still was invented. This enabled continuous distillation to be carried out more cheaply and produce a smooth Whisky. The Irish Whiskey producers, however, were of the opinion that the distillate from the Column Still was not proper Whiskey. The disagreement over Whisky production led to a dispute that finally escalated in 1905. At that time, Ireland was still part of the United Kingdom and not a separate state. The fight over the 'correct' way to make Whisky went so far that a 'Royal Commission' was established to see if this column distillate could be called 'Whisky' or if it was just any brandy. In 1909, the Commission came to the conclusion that column still Whisky could also be called Whisky. People in Ireland were unhappy with this. To distance themselves, Irish Whisky producers have been writing their Irish Whisky with an 'e' before the 'y' ever since. That was the birth of Whiskey.

Let's talk about smoke. As already mentioned, the Whisky is infused with smoke from the peat fire over which the grain is dried during the malting process. The characteristic of peat: actually an odourless material, it emits an extreme scent when burned. People in the British Isles have always used peat as a source of energy. It is cut out of peat soils in narrow strips and piled up in small pyramids to dry. The water runs off very quickly, turning the soft strip into a hard briquette. Like coal, this briquette contains the energy of the dead plant remains from the bog. Unlike coal, dried peat burns quickly and releases a large amount of energy in the form of heat. Another advantage is that peat is - simply put - on site. Scotland has peat bogs pretty much all over the country and in Ireland, too, large parts of the west (Connemara) are covered with peat bogs. Before canals were dug from Dublin through Ireland, Whiskey producers on the west coast of Ireland had difficulty getting other fuel and thus used the peat on their doorstep. Consequently, many Whiskeys from Ireland were also smoky. By the early 19th century, the canals from the east coast had been completed and Whiskey makers resorted to cheaper coal imported from the UK. Consequently, there have been fewer smoky Whiskeys since then. It was not until the end of the 20th century that the Irish Cooley distillery began to work with peat again. The result is Connemara Single Malt, first bottled in 1999 and named after the peat bog national park. Today, it is impossible to imagine our Whisky shelves without Connemara, the first smoky Irish Whiskey brand in about a century.

With the beginning of the 21st century, Ireland's Whiskey scene began to experience a new boom. Until 2012, there were only four active distilleries in Ireland: Midleton, Bushmills, Cooley and Kilbeggan. The newly opened Dingle distillery kicked things off, and since then new Irish distilleries have been springing up: Teeling (reopening in 2015), Waterford (2015), Roe & Co (2019) and Glendalough (2011) are just a few examples of the now more than 30 active Irish distilleries. The new producers also bring a fresh smoky wind to the Irish Whiskey scene. Only recently, Kilbeggan brought the Black bottling onto the market. At the beginning of the year, Teeling introduced the smoky Single Malt Blackpitts. Hinch also produces a Peated Single Malt, smoky Blended Whiskey is available from Dunville's, with Whiskey distilled at the Echlinville distillery in Northern Ireland, and West Cork also produces smoky Whiskey - although here the casks are charred with peat smoke instead of the barley.

The Whiskey landscape in Ireland continues to develop and at the same time goes back to the roots. We observe the development with pleasure and hope to continue to enjoy many special - peated or non-peated - Irish Whiskeys.