Free whisky
information
at your
fingertips!
Malt Whiskys
The best malt whiskys found online
The Whisky Exchange
Over 1300 different whiskys and malt whiskys to choose from
Whisky products
For all your bartending needs
Whisky glasses
Check out the keen prices on the whisky tumblers.
Whisky
Shop til your finger hurts at the drink shop
Best Whisky's
The very finest whisky's
what ever brand you want
Bartending Made Easy
A serious bartenders must have
The Pocket Idiot's Guide to Bartending
Could be well worth a read
Whisky products
Quality Whisky Products
Whisky cocktail glasses
Whisky cocktail Glass Set
Glasss Gift Packs
Shipped FREE, Gift Wrapped FREE, and FREE Gift card. We are sure to please. 
|
|
Whisky
Whisky
Irish Whisky
The origin of Irish whisky is a little cloudy, no one is actually sure when it was 1st created, it is surmised that brewing started sometime in the 12th century.
Irish whiskey is barley, malt whiskey made in Ireland. Irish whiskey resembles Scotch whiskey in that its ingredients and formulation is slightly different.
Note that Irish whisky is written differently.Peat is almost never used when malting Irish whisky, resulting in a whiskey with a smoother, sweeter flavor. In most Irish whiskeys, the smoky, earthy flavors of Scotch are absent.
Common wisdom says that the Irish invented whisky, but it is speculated that the Scots perfected it. Both claims are open to doubt, if "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," then "perfection is on the tongue of the glass holder." In other words it is a question of taste. The word whisky comes from the Irish Gaelic term "uisce beatha" which translates as "water of life" ("uisce" is pronounced ish-ka).
There are fewer Irish whiskey distillers than there are Scotch distillers. Economic difficulties in the last few 100 years have led to great number of distilleries closing or merging.
Currently there are only three distilleries operating in the whole of Ireland (although each produces a number of different whiskeys.)
Irish whisky, like Scotch, comes in several forms. Like Scotch whiskey, there is single malt, (100% malted barley and grain whiskey.
Grain whisky generally tends to be lighter in color and have a lighter flavor than single malt whiskys and is almost never bottled as a single grain. It is however used to blend with single malt whiskys to produce a lighter blended whisky. 
Unique to Irish whisky distilling and something that the scotch have never followed on, is pure pot still whisky (100% barley, both malted and unmalted, distilled in a pot still). The "green" unmalted barley gives the pure pot still whisky a spicy, unique Irish quality. Like single malt, pure pot still is sold as such or blended with grain whisky.
Irish whisky is thought to be one of the first distilled beverages in Europe, dating to the mid-12th century). The Old Bushmills Distillery have also laid claim to being the oldest licensed distillery around the globe since gaining a license in 1608.
Scotch Whiskey
The term whiskey is known to be from the Gaelic uisge beatha or usquebaugh meaning "water of life." Gaelic is a different branch of Celtic spoken in the Scottish Highlands. It's believed that whiskey was produced in Scotland long before 1400s. It wasnt until the early part of 19th century that people had the knowledge to tell the difference between brewer and distiller by the definitions we have today.
The first evidence of Scotch whiskey production was in the beginning of the 17th century. The documentation of this comes from the will of John Denoon, merchant of Tain recorded his possession of a spirit stand and give glasses valued at just over 4 pounds. Some historians speculate that whiskey production emigrated to Scotland from Ireland around the 16th century.
Whisky had increased in popularity to such a level where the local production in Tain could not keep up with the demand. In the early 1660's the town council had gone so far as to ban the purchase of malt used for the production of whiskey.
After 1725, there was an increased amount of evidence for action against individuals brewing and malting whiskey without prior permission as the authorities attempted to enforce the Malt Tax. In early 1740's a group of people in Tain were cited for illegal distillation of scotch whiskey, they attempted to hide their stills in garrets, bed-chambers and wardrobes. Later on that same year the number of people to be convicted of such a charge had risen sharply, stills having been found in cellars, lofts, byres and bedrooms. Despite this the towns folk continued to distill whiskey behind closed doors in order to avoid paying any tax. It was not just the poor burgesses and county folk who were involved in the illegal activities but some of the more well to do got their hands dirty as well.
In 1779, Malt tax's were sharply increased, and again in 1780. In the spring of 1802, taxes went even higher as the government tried to raise the revenues available in order to finance the war against Napoleon and his allies. However the major commercial distillers had noticed a loophole in the law and were importing higher quality English barley into Scotland, malting it but still only paying the smaller Scottish rate of duty. At the same time as agitation was growing over the levying of the Malt whiskey Tax. 
In the early 1900s, Lloyd George failed in discouraging drunkenness among munition workers and doubled tax on whiskey instead.
During the prohibition of the United States, whiskey distillers made deals with bootleggers, and it was because of this that over 100 distilleries were back in full swing by 1920s. However the General Strike of 1926 hit the whiskey sales in Britain hard. After the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, distillers still struggled due to the high taxes set in by the government for the military funding.
Today there are more than 2,500 Scotch whiskey brands sold to more than 200 countries worldwide.
Sour Mash Whiskys
Sour mash is not a category or flavor of whiskey like most people think.It is however the name for a process in the distillation process, not unlike the making of sourdough bread. It was developed by Scottish chemist Dr. James C. Crow, while he was employed at the former Old Oscar Pepper Distillery (now the Woodford Reserve Distillery) in Woodford County, Kentucky. When the whiskey is blended as a sour mash, a portion of the old or "sour" mash, is added to the new mash. (The old mash is also called "feed mash," this is because the old grains are used as an ingredient in animal feed.)
Mash is a combination of grain, yeast and hot water that the actual whiskey is made from. This process is done to improve the quality of the liquor, so that every bottle tastes exactly like the next one. In addition to this the acid introduced by using the sour mash controls the growth of bacteria that could damage the quality of the whisky. Sour mash is popular in bourbon whisky and Tennessee whisky. A couple of popular examples of sour mash whiskys are Jack Daniel's and Jim Beam.
Whisky Cocktails - The finest whisky and malt whisky cocktails anywhere
|
|
|
 |
|
