Irish Whiskey

The smooth original: Irish whiskey is famous for triple distillation and an easy, honeyed charm that made it the world's best-selling whiskey a century ago — and it is roaring back. Ingredients: malted and unmalted barley (the unique single pot still style), wheat or other grains, water, yeast. Method: 1) Distill — traditionally three times through copper pot stills — for exceptional smoothness; Irish malt is dried in closed kilns, away from peat smoke. 2) Age at least three years in wooden casks in Ireland. 3) Serve neat, or with a splash of water. The experience: light, silky and welcoming — orchard fruit, vanilla, toasted wood and a soft spice finish. History: monks brought distillation to Ireland around a thousand years ago; Bushmills was licensed to distill in 1608, and by the 1800s Irish whiskey ruled the world before a hard century of decline — today its distilleries multiply again.