Smooth single pot still is the latest whiskey to watch
Mixed berry shortcake
Robust, grain-forward and creamy — meet the spirits that are reshaping Ireland’s whiskey landscape, and the single distillery behind them.
No, the distillery isn’t some startup or craft producer. Instead, it’s New Midleton, the mammoth, ultramodern producer owned by the subsidiary that makes Jameson, French liquor giant Pernod Ricard’s Irish Distillers. The spirits: single pot still whiskeys.
New Midleton seeks to
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Makes: return Irish whiskey to its roots by producing the historic style, which is made by distilling malted and unmalted barley three times in copper pot stills.
Single malt whiskeys use only malted barley; the addition of unmalted makes the whiskey deeper, spicier and funkier. (Before 2011, the style was referred to as pure pot still; regulators forced the change because they didn’t want a whiskey labeled “pure.”)
But until just a few years ago you couldn’t get a single single pot still whiskey in the United States.
Then came Redbreast. While there are a number of variations, the most common version is Redbreast 12 year. Remarkably complex and a little spicy, with notes of fruitcake, toffee, gingerbread and coconut, the whiskey almost immediately won accolades.
And it attracted a passionate following, particularly in the United States, which accounts for half of Redbreast’s worldwide sales, says Patrick Caulfield, senior brand manager for Irish Distillers. “Redbreast was the first time that we were able to show the range of Irish whiskey.”
And it now has company — whiskeys that are rather distinct from Redbreast. Irish Distillers last year released Green Spot in the U.S. for the first time.
While Green Spot had long been available in Ireland, it has always been a limited-release whiskey aimed at those who appreciate the whiskey’s ripe green fruit notes that meld with vanilla and nutmeg notes, Caulfield says.
Then Yellow Spot, the older sibling to Green Spot, followed earlier this year. Like Green Spot, Yellow Spot had never been avail- able in the U.S. and hadn’t been produced since the 1960s.
After Yellow Spot is aged in bourbon and sherry casks, it is matured in casks that previously held Malaga wine. The method gives the whiskey vanilla and sweet fruit notes, in addition to green apple, spice and nutmeg.
Green Spot and Yellow Spot are light, while Redbreast is heavier. But all three are complex, smooth and interesting.
The resurgence of single pot still whiskey was a long time coming. But it’s long overdue.