Ten must-drink Irish whiskeys

By Pascale Le Draoulec

updated 4:11 p.m. ET March 15, 2007

Mike Mason, a 40-something real estate attorney, walked into Seppi's bar at Le Parker-Meridien in Manhattan last week a loyal fan of single-malt scotch.

He emerged enchanted by Irish whiskey. But don't hold the leprechauns responsible.

Mason's epiphany, rather, had everything to do with the new face of Irish whiskey. Bartender Patrick O'Sullivan steered Mason toward Redbreast, a 12-year-old, uniquely Irish pure pot still whiskey, the current darling of Irish whiskey circles.

"It really opened my eyes to Irish whiskey," said Mason, a Macallan man. "It never occurred to me to try Irish whiskey. But this one was so vibrant and so smooth."

O'Sullivan, who dropped a spoonful of cold water in Mason's pour--a trick that made the spirit's notes of caramel and spice come alive--says both Redbreast, an assertive, authentic pot still whiskey made with malted and unmalted barley, and Midleton Very Rare, a floral, velvety blend of luxe whiskeys aged in bourbon casks, are current favorites at the midtown restaurant bar, which stocks 13 top-shelf Irish whiskeys.

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Such a selection would have been unheard of 15 years ago. And, a scotch drinker would not have not been so easily swayed.

That's because, for decades, serious whiskey drinkers drank scotch. Irish "blended" whiskey was for drowning sorrows — or coffee.

But, John Hansell, editor and publisher of Malt Advocate magazine, says that's changing.

"The line between Irish whiskey and Scotch whisky has become blurred," says Hansell, since Irish whiskey companies like Bushmills and Jameson have expanded their range to include deluxe whiskies from aged blends to pure pot stills and their own brand of single malts. "The top Irish whiskeys are just as good as many single-malt scotches. It's too bad more people aren't aware of how complex some of these whiskeys have become."

Hansell says Irish distillers are simply--and astutely--responding to consumer demand.

"People are drinking less, but smarter," he says. "They don't just want whiskey, they want the best whiskey. And they'll pay for it."

Indeed, a rare bottle of Knappogue Castle 1951, a beguiling whiskey aged 36 years in sherry casks and believed to be the oldest Irish whiskey around, will set you back $1000. Whiskey connoisseurs— both men and women — routinely order $51 shots of "K51" at D.B.A., a bar in Manhattan known for its "drink good stuff" motto, says owner Ray Deter.

Colum Egan, the master distiller at Bushmills, which currently boasts a 12-, 16- and even a 21-year-old single malt that's finished in Madeira casks, agrees that making more distinctive whiskey was a natural evolution for the centuries-old distillery.

"People started wanting nicer houses and nicer cars," he says. "With that better lifestyle, they wanted a better whiskey — one for every occasion."

It was also a matter of survival for the industry.

In the 19th century it was the Irish "water of life" that dominated the world market and was the drink of choice in polite society. But famine, the war of independence, high taxes, and, finally, our Prohibition, led to the industry's demise and to the shuttering of hundreds of small, independent distilleries.

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