Jameson is pretty much a household name at this point. They have been creating some of Ireland’s best malt since 1780, when they were founded by John Jameson, who actually came from Scotland.

Since then they have thrived and managed to make it through some dark times for Irish Whiskey. At one point, the malt made in Ireland was the best in the world, and a huge competitor for Scotch. It even overtook sale of Scotch and became the most popular in Scotland.

But the success was not forever, and the country was going through some hard times themselves, including the Irish famine. They also refused to implement a lot of modern distilling methods, including the introduction of the Coffey still. Blends in Scotland were really starting to take off and becoming far more popular than single malt.

Then came the First World War, Prohibition and the Great Depression, culminating in an axe swing to the Irish Whiskey market. Most of the dsitlleries in the country closed, except for Bushmills in the North, Powers and of course, Jameson.

Jameson thrived and became the biggest selling Irish malt in the world. And for good reason.