Small-batch distillers like to tout their pot stills to indicate quality, tradition and craft. A copper pot or alembic still is the bulbous apparatus you might visualize, whether the picture in your mind’s eye takes you to Cognac, France, or Jed Clampett’s Texas. But the truth is that most commercial spirits today are made in continuous column stills, which look more like industrial machinery.
Got that? Good. Forget it.
If you’re in Ireland the term “pot still” takes on a completely different meaning. There, it denotes a particular style of whiskey that offers an upfront flavor of warm spices and pepper thanks to the way it is made. Irish pot still whiskeys are distinct from Irish single malt whiskeys for reasons that have everything to do with Irish history.
During the first half of the 1800’s, Irish whiskey was — along with rum — one of the world’s most exported and visible spirits, equally loved in Czarist Russia and the United States. The robust commerce was a boon for British revenuers, who placed a tax on the malted (i.e., fermented) barley distillers used.
A clever few distillers soon discovered a workaround: They could add a percentage of green barley mash, which wasn’t taxed, to the pot still. The resulting spirit had more bite and spice and, thanks to its lower price, appealed both to locals and to the export black market. In the United States, this style is sometimes called “pure pot still” to help with the confusion.
I learned a lot about the history of Irish whiskey from Conor Chase, the brand manager for The Irishman. You may not find this lesser-known line of whiskey at every corner pub as you would Jameson or Bushmills, but it’s worth searching out. Chase was in Atlanta as part of an Irish food and spirits tasting organized by the Consulate General of Ireland. Luckily, along with the earful of Irish history I got a few snootfuls, as well.
The Irishman offers a fine entry-level whiskey that retails for less than $30 a bottle called Founder’s Reserve, which is the company’s take on pot still whiskey. It’s in fact a blend of pot still liquor and single malt, so the feisty spice and zip of the pot still portion is mellowed by chocolate and caramel characteristics of malted whiskey. It is made from 100 percent barley and triple distilled to get that smoothness drinkers want from good Irish whiskey.
Everyone with whom I spoke at the tasting preferred the other whiskey Chase was pouring — the Irishman Single Malt, which had sweeter fruit and a longer finish. It clearly had a more complex flavor, but I found myself returning to the Founder’s Reserve for its zest and personality.
Pot still whiskeys are resurgent in Ireland now as distillers have started to play around and create premium craft spirits. Much like Southern cooks are rediscovering sorghum and old preserving techniques, Irish distillers are looking at their heritage and seeing potential in pot still whiskeys. Popular brands now have limited releases of these spirits with their characteristic spice and green fruit flavors.
One of the better known is the entry-level Redbreast, a 12-year-old pot still whiskey that I searched out as soon as I began researching the subject. I found it at Mac McGee Irish Pub, the great whiskey bar with branches in Decatur and Roswell. This whiskey had a lot more flavor up front, a kind of tight-packed ginger mint Altoid thing going on that I loved. Then it rewarded me with that gentle, clean finish I want from Irish whiskey. There is also a 15-year-old Redbreast that I may soon spring for.
Other well reviewed pot still whiskeys include ones produced by Green Spot, Midleton and Powers. Prices, of course, go from special-occasion to utterly ridiculous, as they do for craft spirits.
If you’re curious, here’s what you do: Get a bottle of the Irishman Founders Reserve, available at several dozen local liquor stores, including Tower Beer, Wine & Spirits. Then graduate to Redbreast. Then call me.
