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Thursday, February 1, 2007

First of a flood: my Irish Whiskey piece in the Philly City Paper

I was going to go to Ireland in December to visit the three distilleries...but that fell through. It's a painful story, don't ask. I did get more than enough material (and samples) to write a number of stories, though, and the first of them just came out today in the City Paper. More an overview than anything, but one interesting tidbit: Philadelphia is the number one American market for Tullamore Dew. No real idea why, to be honest. But I'll tell you: that 12 Year Old Tullamore's some nice whiskey.

3 comments:

Steven said...

12 year old Tullamore is fine stuff, and Bushmill has some great aged variations, but Black Bush is still my favorite.

It's a funny thing, my Irish grandfather's (4th generation) favorite drink was Scotch. I'm pretty sure it was due to the lack of available Irish whiskey in the 'States from the '30s thru the '60s. That, and the whole stigma prohibition bathtub whiskey gave to their "Irish" labels.

Nonetheless, as his first grandchild to return to the old sod, I toasted him with a Black Bush at the Brazen Head.

Lew Bryson said...

I'm good with Black Bush, Steven; no problem with that at all. I really like the Jameson 12 and 18 year old, too. My favorite at the moment is probably Redbreast.

I think you hit the nail on the head with your grandfather's preference: Irish was HUGE in America, but Prohibition almost killed it.

Steven said...

I enjoyed the Redbreast a lot while in Dublin. I also came back from the Jameson destillery with a bottle of the special edition (20 year?) they only sell on premise...been savoring it for a few years now.