13 Irish Whiskeys to Drink This St. Patrick’s Day and All Year Long
It's the year of the Irish whiskey blend, so grab an exemplary bottle—or three.
If you’ve noticed a lot more Irish whiskey on liquor store shelves or as a key ingredient in cocktails at your favorite bar recently, there’s a reason for that—the category has exploded in popularity over the past few years. According to William Lavelle, director of the Irish Whiskey Association, the numbers tell the tale: Global sales tripled from about 60 million bottles in 2010 to 180 million last year, with millennials and Gen Z leading the charge. That’s a whole lot of Irish whiskey, a category that has found its pace again after years playing second fiddle to scotch and bourbon.
The most popular (and affordable) style of Irish whiskey is blended, usually a combination of pot still or malt whiskey and grain whiskey. There is also Irish single malt whiskey, which has similar rules to its Scottish counterpart—made from a mashbill of 100 percent malted barley at one distillery and aged for a minimum of three years. Single grain whiskey is made at one distillery from a mashbill that is often mostly corn but can include other grains as well. And single pot still whiskey is Ireland’s own unique style, made from a mashbill of malted and unmalted barley in pot stills. “Ireland produces double and triple distilled malts, peated and non-peated malts, and can use a greater variety of wood and barrel types for finishing,” said Lavelle. “As a result, Irish single malts have become a really exciting niche. And the good news is that we are seeing much more age-statement expressions of Irish single malt beginning to hit the shelves in the U.S.”
While there are still nowhere near as many distilleries in Ireland as there are in the U.S., the number has increased from just four in 2010 to now more than 40. But according to Lavelle, it’s about more than the distilleries. “We have a legacy of great Irish whiskeys which were curated by blenders and bonders from distillates sourced from third party distilleries,” he said. “With the recent growth in distilleries, I’m looking forward to seeing a rise in new blends crafted from distillates from multiple distilleries. The opportunities are endless, and the future is bright for Irish whiskey.”
In that spirit, here’s a list of 13 of the best Irish whiskey brands you can try now. There are many others to choose from, of course, but this should get you started on your journey into the expansive and extremely varied world of Irish whiskey. Slainte!
Teeling Whiskey
Teeling was the first whiskey distillery to operate in Dublin in about 125 years when it opened back in 2015. The city is now home to several distilleries, but Teeling continues to chug away releasing a variety of excellent sourced and inhouse-distilled whiskeys of very high quality. The core expression is the Small Batch, a blend of grain and malt aged in ex-bourbon barrels before being married together in rum casks for up to a year. There are also Single Malt, Single Grain, and Single Pot Still whiskeys. This last one is aged in virgin American oak, bourbon, and sherry casks, and was distilled onsite in Dublin. The same goes for Blackpitts, a peated single malt aged in bourbon and Sauternes wine casks. If you’re looking to splurge, the 32-Year-Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey Purple Muscat Finish is an ultra-aged whiskey finished in Portuguese wine barrels. And keep an eye out for a new entry in the Wonders of Wood series–the first was a single pot still whiskey matured in virgin Chinkapin oak, the forthcoming whiskey was matured in virgin Portuguese oak.
Bushmills
Bushmills and Jameson are both extremely palatable and inexpensive Irish blends, but there are some big differences, not the least of which is that Bushmills is produced in Northern Ireland. The biggest difference is that Bushmills is strictly a single malt whiskey distillery, and is an expert in the craft. The core range consists of 10, 12, 16, and 21-year-old whiskeys aged in different cask types. Just this month came the announcement that two new ultra-aged expressions are joining the lineup, a 25-year-old single malt that spent 21 years in port pipes, and a 30-year-old single malt that spent its final 16 years maturing in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. And if you want to really throw down some cash, try the new expression in the new Rare Casks series, a 30-year-old single malt aged in sherry and bourbon barrels for 13 years, then another 17 in madeira casks.
McConnell’s
There’s a lot of history behind this Irish whiskey brand, which like Bushmills is produced in Northern Ireland. McConnell’s, which calls Belfast home, is a blend of sourced malt and grain whiskey that’s aged for about five years in ex-bourbon barrels. The brand was absent for nearly a century before returning to the whiskey world two years ago, and has won awards and impressed whiskey fans since then. Last summer, a sherry cask-finished expression joined the lineup as well. Belfast Distillery Company is constructing a new distillery in the city that will eventually serve as the brand home and production site for McConnell’s, but it’ll be a while before we get to try that whiskey. In the meantime, give this affordable blend a try.
Midleton Very Rare
Midleton Very Rare is made at the eponymous distillery run by Irish Distillers just outside of Cork, the same place where brands like Jameson, Redbreast, and Powers are made. This is a massive operation making grain and pot still whiskey, which are incorporated into many of the different blends produced here. The peak blend would have to be Midleton Very Rare, an annual release that combines specially selected grain and pot still whiskey in different proportions. Master distiller Kevin O’Gorman has been responsible for the past few vintages, and the 2023 release is as good as usual with a nice balance of styles that makes this whiskey worth the money. Also, an interesting note—Midleton Very Rare The Pinnacle, a $130,000 whiskey that combined a portion of each previous MVR release, just made history as the fastest ever NFT sale from BlockBar.
Tullamore D.E.W.
There’s nothing particularly new in the world of Tullamore D.E.W. these days, but there doesn’t really need to be given that the brand is the second best seller in the world. It’s an immensely popular blended whiskey, giving Jameson a run for its money in sales. Tullamore, owned by Williams Grant and Sons, has been making whiskey onsite at its own distillery since 2014, after several decades at Midleton where many of its rival blends are produced. The core expression is tripled-matured in refill, bourbon, and sherry casks. There are also a few age statement single malts available, along with a couple of cask-finished blends that do a good job at highlighting the flavors of their secondary maturation–XO Caribbean Rum Cask Finish and Cider Cask Finish.
Redbreast
You might not be aware that Redbreast is distilled at the same massive distillery as Jameson, but indeed the two are produced at Midleton just outside of Cork, along with a few other notable brands. Redbreast is a shining example of a single pot still Irish whiskey. This designation means that it’s made from a mash bill of malted and unmalted barley and distilled at one distillery in pot stills. The range consists of different ages matured in bourbon and sherry casks (the sherry influence is strong in the whiskey), with highlights definitely being the 12-year-old cask strength and 15-year-old expressions. There have also been some interesting special releases in recent years, including Kentucky Oak Edition which is finished in American oak barrels, and the Lustau and PX Editions, each of which uses those specific types of sherry butts to finish the whiskey and impart new flavors.
Waterford
Some of the most interesting new Irish whiskeys available in the US come from Waterford, a distillery focused on showcasing the effects of terroir on whiskey. The team does this through releases that are made from a mash bill of barley grown on single farms, or a group of farms, with no chill filtration before bottling and no color added to the whiskey. Founder Mark Reynier and his team have put in the work and commissioned studies to back up the science behind the concept of terroir in whiskey. They also have focused on organic and biodynamically grown barley for several expressions. Waterford eschews the use of cask finishes for its whiskey, a common practice in the industry (often to great effect, to be fair). Check out the wood section of the website for a fun read about what they really think about secondary maturation, but the basic gist is that it’s a shortcut, a cheat, an attempt at burnishing a brand, a way of trying to improve bad whiskey, or simply “lipstick on a pig.”
Powers
Powers is another one of those brands that is best known for its affordable core blend, Gold Label, but also has some higher-end bottles worth checking out as well. The whiskey is produced at Midleton, which you’ve read about several times if you’ve gotten this far. There are expressions like the single pot still Three Swallow, and the 12-year-old John’s Lane (also single pot still, and a truly excellent whiskey). The newest member of the family stands out—Powers Irish Rye. This whiskey is made from a mashbill of 100 percent rye grain, which is pretty much unheard of in the world of Irish whiskey. Try this one in your next Manhattan to see how it is transformed.
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Slane Irish Whiskey
Slane is owned by Brown-Forman, the company behind the whiskey juggernaut that is Jack Daniel’s. The brand, founded by Alex Conyngham and his family, is located on the grounds of Slane Castle where his father Henry has put on legendary rock concerts for years. The whiskey is being distilled at the distillery now, but is sourced while the stock ages. It’s a triple-distilled blend of grain and malt whiskey that is aged in three different casks—virgin oak, bourbon, and sherry. If you visit the distillery you can find a high-proof Batch Strength version of the whiskey, but the core blend is readily available here in the U.S. and is a great option for making cocktails.
The Legendary Silkie Irish Whiskey
Silkie is a relative newcomer here in the US, but already there are four different expressions to choose from. These are source whiskeys that have an unusual feature in the world of Irish whiskey—there is an element of smoke involved in some of them. Most Irish whiskey is unpeated (most scotch is too, despite what Irish brand reps will try to tell you), but peated barley can bring a lovely element to the character of the whiskey. The core expression is a blend of malt and grain whiskey aged in different cask types, with just a touch of peat in the mix. Dark Silkie brings that smoky character to the forefront, while Midnight is the smokiest of the bunch and a blend of five different malt whiskeys aged in everything from beer to sherry to wine casks. The newest expression is Red Silkie, which takes the original blend and rests it in Rioja and Ribera de Duero casks for up to six months.
West Cork Distillers
This distillery isn’t too far away from the much larger Midleton just outside of Cork, but it’s making its own way in the rapidly growing world of Irish whiskey. It has an impressive lineup of different expressions, consisting of a variety of blends and single malts that are finished in different types of casks. There are a lot of expressions to choose from, like the Stout Cask Irish Whiskey, a blend of 75% grain and 25% malt aged in first fill bourbon barrels and then finished in beer casks from Black’s of Kinsale, a local brewery and distillery. This is the second collaboration between the two, coming on the heels of an IPA Cask release. If beer isn’t your thing, there are whiskeys finished in rum, calvados, sherry, port, and peat charred casks–and even an unusual whiskey called Bog Oak Charred Cask finished in that type of oak harvested from the boglands of southwestern Ireland.
Roe & Co
Roe & Co is Diageo’s entry back into the Irish whiskey category, making up for the hole in this drinks corporation’s massive catalog left by the sale of Bushmills back in 2014. The distillery is up and running in Dublin just across the street from the St. James’s Gate Guinness Brewery, and it also happens to have an excellent bar to visit the next time you are in town. For now, the whiskey is a sourced blend of malt and grain aged in bourbon barrels, non-chill filtered and bottled at 90 proof, created by Diageo master blender Caroline Martin, who got input from various bartenders when putting together this flagship product. This is a great Irish blend to use in cocktails.
Writers' Tears
This is one of two whiskey brands that come from parent company Walsh Whiskey (the other being The Irishman). Writers’ Tears is a blend of pot still and single malt whiskey, with no grain whiskey included in the makeup. The core bottle in the lineup, Copper Pot, is aged in bourbon barrels, but there are others that take different maturation paths like Double Oak (aged in bourbon and French oak cognac barrels), and Japanese Cask (a single cask release finished in Japanese Mizunara oak). A few new expressions have arrived in recent months as well. Red Head is a single malt whiskey matured in oloroso sherry casks; the first single pot still from the brand is now available, matured in bourbon barrels and finished in PX sherry and Sicilian marsala barrels; and the annual vintage of the cask strength whiskey was just announced, bottled at a hefty 54.8% ABV.
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