Whenever I visit an Irish distillery for work, a part of me gets very excited. Scotch may be our passion here at GreatDrams, but I’ve a real soft spot for Irish whiskey, Irish distilleries, and the country in general. 

The country is lovely, the locals are amongst the friendliest, most hilarious people you’ll ever meet, and as for Irish pub culture, well, there’s nothing quite like it. 

Irish whiskey can be traced back many centuries. There are even some arguments out there for the Irish inventing whiskey as opposed to the Scots. Personally, I’m not going anywhere near that debate so let’s just focus on the important stuff here – the whiskey. 

Irish whiskey is renowned for its smoothness, which is attributed to its triple-distillation. It’s typically smoother and has less “burn” than Scotch, with sweet and fruity undertones. These days, Irish whiskey is in a great spot, but it wasn’t too long ago that things were very different. 

For today’s blog, I thought I’d take a quick look at Irish whiskey’s turbulent and storied past, and look at how the industry bounced back. 

Irish Whiskey in the 1800s

Irish whiskey can be traced back hundreds, if not thousands of years. To cover it all in great length, I’d probably need to write a book rather than a short blog, so for now we’ll begin in the 1800s. 

Following a couple of century’s worth of taxes and stricter legislation, just like in Scotland, illegal distilleries were found all over Ireland. 1823 saw the 1823 Excise Act. For once, this act actually worked in the distillery’s favour as it meant they only paid duty on the booze they made and sold. 

Shortly after the 1823 Excise Act, the number of licensed, legal distilleries in Ireland shot up dramatically, with around 93 in operation just over a decade later. 

In the early 1820s, the biggest still in Ireland had a capacity of just 3,400 litres. As demand increased, distilleries struggled to keep up. Daniel, James, and Jeremiah Murphy (of Murphy’s Irish stout fame) purchased a distillery from Lord Midleton and installed an enormous 144,000 litre still in 1825, making it the largest in world. As of this writing, it is still located at County Cork’s Old Midleton Distillery and is still the biggest on the planet. It’s also well worth a visit if you’re ever nearby. 

Shortly afterwards, a former excise officer by the name of Aeneas Coffey, created and patented the ‘Coffey’ still. This was the first of its kind as it meant that spirit could continuously be produced, rather than having to empty and refill the still with each batch. Now, because of his former line of work, and because of tradition, the Irish didn’t exactly take to the Coffey Still. Coffey was obviously not flavour of the month to begin with, and Irish distillers believed his still would hinder the quality of their whiskey. They hated it, and they let their feelings be known. Aeneas would enjoy more success in England and Scotland. 

This would be the first sign of trouble for the Irish whiskey industry. 

Prohibition, Wars, and Unrest

The remainder of the 1800s proved very up and down for Irish whiskey. The Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s resulted in the deaths of more than a million people, with a further 2.1 million fleeing Ireland. Demand for whiskey was obviously not there. 

The latter part of the 1800s saw the introduction of railways and following insect plagues decimating vineyards across Europe, both the wine and brandy markets took enormous losses. The vineyard’s losses were Irish whiskey’s gain as demand for Irish whiskey surged. 

The remainder of the 1800s proved very fruitful for the Irish whiskey industry, but that good run of fortune wasn’t to last…

The First World War, the Spanish Flu, a shortage of coal and grain, and the Irish Civil War took an enormous toll on the industry. Now, don’t get me wrong, virtually all industries suffered, but the Irish whiskey market was on the brink of collapse. 

As if all that wasn’t enough, just to add insult to injury, 1920 – 1933 saw the Prohibition Act enforced across America. This essentially banned all alcohol across the country. This was devastating as Irish whiskey was huge in the States, and accounted for more than 60% of all whiskey sales in the country.

Imagine losing one of your biggest customers for 13 years. Well, that’s exactly what happened to Irish whiskey distillers. After prohibition was lifted, the market recovered somewhat, though by then, tastes had changed and demand in the USA wasn’t as high. Scotch whisky was now also hugely more popular. 

World War 2 was similarly devastating, and by the 1960s, only a handful of Irish distillers remained…

Bouncing Back

By 1966, the Irish whiskey industry was in huge amounts of trouble, with only a select few distillers left in the business. Those that remained knew that something needed to be done, or else the industry would collapse.

Rather than competing against each other, they opted to instead join forces. Powers, John Jameson, and the Cork Distilleries Company opted to merge, forming the Irish Distiller’s Group at the Midleton Distillery. In 1972, Bushmills would also get on board. 

Gradually, demand for Irish whiskey grows once more, with many seeing it as a viable alternative for those who found Scotch whisky too harsh, or too peaty. The whiskey was much smoother, more akin to a blended malt.

In 1988, Pernod Ricard, a French drinks company, would purchase the group and invest a lot of money into the industry. They focussed on marketing and advertising on a global scale, making Jameson the flagship brand. Add to that, the fact that John Teeling’s Cooley Distillery had opened a year prior, and the Irish whiskey boom was in full effect. 

As the years passed by, Irish whiskey surged in popularity, with names like Redbreast proving especially popular. The world seemingly couldn’t get enough of those smooth, fruity, triple-distilled notes synonymous with the spirit.

In the early 1980s there were less than 5 distilleries in operation in Ireland. Today, there are over 50, with more opening up every single year. Just like Alan Partridge, Irish whiskey has very much bounced back. 

Obviously, there’s much more to cover than what I just wrote about, but hopefully I covered the basics, and who knows, maybe I’ll go into more detail later down the line. 

If you’d like to learn more about your favourite whiskies, or simply treat yourself to a dram or two in the process, be sure to head on over to GreatDrams.com and take a look at the diverse selection of unique whiskies we currently have in stock.

With an impressive selection of limited-edition, rare, and award-winning whisky, as well as heaps of whisky info on our blog, it’s the perfect spot for any whisky lovers out there.