Pure Pot Still Irish Whiskey

Pure Pot Still is the name given to a traditional and highly characterful Whiskey produced in Ireland. The spirit is indeed distilled in pot stills but the quality that truly defines the style is the use of both malted and un-malted barley in the mash bill. The original cause for this unusual practice came in 1692 when the British Malt Tax was introduced. The Irish distillers duly responded, and in using un-malted barley and in some cases oats and rye, lowered the proportion of taxable grain involved in their production.

While Pure Pot Still was once the Whiskey of choice throughout Ireland and further afield, it slowly lost popularity and was, until recently, rarely found bottled unless as a component of larger blends. In recent times however the true beauty of Ireland’s most charming and flavorsome spirit, with its distinctly oily, spicy freshness is being fully appreciated once more. There have been several excellent recent releases such as the Redbreast 12yo Cask Strength and the Powers John’s Lane 12yo which are serving to strengthen the position of this traditional and uniquely Irish style.