Midleton Dair Ghaelach

Irish Whiskey Varieties

Irish whiskey (Irish: Fuisce or uisce beatha) is a whiskey produced on the island of Ireland. The word "whiskey" (or whiskey) comes from the Irish (or Gaelic) uisce beatha, which means "water of life". Irish whiskey was once the most popular liquor in the world, although a prolonged period of decline from the late 19th century onwards severely damaged the industry, so much so that although Ireland boasted at least 28 distilleries in the 1890s, that number fell by 1966 ... up to two, and in 1972 the remaining distilleries, Bushmills Distillery and Old Midleton Distillery (replaced by New Midleton Distillery), were owned by only one company, the Irish Distillers. The monopoly situation was ended by an academically designed launch of the first distillery in decades, the Cooley distillery, in 1987 [5]. Since the 1990s, Irish whiskey has grown in popularity again and, since 1990, it has been the fastest growing alcoholic beverage in the world. With an annual growth of more than 15% in exports, the existing distilleries have been expanded and several new distilleries have been built. ... In December 2019, there were 32 distilleries operating in Ireland and an increase is planned or under development. However, many did not work long enough to produce locally matured whiskeys for sale, and only two, Bushmills in Northern Ireland and Kilbeggan, were in operation until 1975, the last with a long hiatus.