page_title: Whisky
section_title: Irish
hierarchical_section_title: Whisky / Types / Irish
caption_attribution_description: English: Various Irish whiskies. Picture by Cafeirlandais.
context_page_description: Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden casks, generally made of charred white oak.
  Whisky is a strictly regulated spirit worldwide with many classes and types. The typical unifying characteristics of the different classes and types are the fermentation of grains, distillation, and aging in wooden barrels.
context_section_description: Irish whiskeys are normally distilled three times, Cooley Distillery being the exception as they also double distill. Though traditionally distilled using pot stills, the column still is now used to produce grain whiskey for blends. By law, Irish whiskey must be produced in Ireland and aged in wooden casks for a period of no less than three years, although in practice it is usually three or four times that period. Unpeated malt is almost always used, the main exception being Connemara Peated Malt whiskey. There are several types of whiskey common to Ireland: single malt, single grain, blended whiskey and pure pot still whiskey.
  Irish whiskey was once the most popular spirit in the world, though a long period of decline from the late 19th century to the late 20th century greatly damaged the industry, so much so that, although Ireland boasted over 30 distilleries in the 1890s, a century later this number had fallen to just three. However, Irish whiskey has seen a great resurgence in popularity since the late twentieth century, and has been the fastest growing spirit in the world every year since 1990. With exports growing by over 15% per annum in recent years, existing distilleries have been expanded and a number of new distilleries constructed. As of mid 2019, Ireland now has twenty-five distilleries in operation, with twenty-four more in either planned or under development. However, many of these have not been operating long enough to have products sufficiently aged for sale, and only one of which was operating prior to 1975.
caption: Various Irish whiskeys
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