Jameson Whiskey: It's Irish, really!

Entrance to the old Bow Street Distillery

Courtyard of the Bow Street Distillery.  Note the old copper 'pot' still.

Before you’re admitted to the exclusive Irish Whiskey club, you have to answer a few invasive questions.  What is Celtic and what is Gaelic?  How do you say ‘Cheers’ in Irish?  How do you pronounce Celtic?  What time do you go to work and is your wife alone?

Careful! The eternal salvation of your slushy, spirit-drinking soul depends on your answers.

Because I am of a generous Spirit, so to speak, I’ll sneak you my copy of the Cliff Notes:

In Ireland, Gaelic is the language, Celtic is the race.  But you can also say Celtic languages, which encompasses Scotch, Welch, and several others.  So how do you say ‘cheers’ in Gaelic? Sláinte!  That’s pronounced ‘slant-cha’ and it means health.

Only kidding about your wife.  Monogamy was meant to save Men from hell-on-earth.

How do you pronounce Celtic?  Damn this is getting tough.  American basketball fans always say ‘Sell-tic.’  The Irish and everyone else in the known world says ‘Kelt-tic.’  So, ya gotta decide, Punk.  Do ya wanna be a man of the world, drive fast cars, drink good whiskey, and be very close friends with gorgeous women, or do you wanna grow up to be a basketball fan? …hurry up, Punk, the clock’s ticking…

Next, let’s get some nasty little secrets out in the open.  Jameson is no longer owned by an Irish Company.  A foppish, Frenchy firm, Pernod-Ricard owns the paperwork.  Besides Jameson (Irish Distillers), you’d recognize a bunch of other names P-R scarped up in their unscrupulous efforts to dominate the spiritual world and look down their Gallic noses from a great distance.  Should you want to further arm yourself against this conspiracy, check this link and scroll down: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pernod_Ricard

As a public service, I ask that you help us kick those effete wine-swillers out of Ireland!  Send generous donations to stroudallover.blogspot.com.  I faithfully swear that all money will go directly to the Irish Whiskey Rebellion and that I will fight to the last drop.

Some would say that because of international corporate wheeling and dealing, Jameson is no longer truly an Irish whiskey.  I say to that:  Kiss my Blarney Stone.  The French may own it, but the Irish still make it.

Jameson has some other not so closely guarded secrets.  John Jameson started making Jameson whiskey in 1780, at the Bow Street Distillery in Dublin.  No longer.  In 1966 a bunch of Irish distillers joined forces and built the Midleton Distillery in Cork, where all of Jameson is now distilled.  The old Bow Street distillery has been turned into a visitor’s center, where they give tours and tell the Jameson story while you drink yourself silly.  They also offer ‘whiskey-tasting,’ which is a game of finding your preference before your taste buds and the rest of your body goes numb.

One of the biggest non-secrets is that John Jameson was not Irish.  He was a Scotsman!

Into the old Bow Street Distillery.  Get there early for the tours.  They fill up fast, unlike the Guinness tours which are continuous.  Just walking inside the old place is a treat. While you wait, there's a bar and a gift shop.  Yep, they do sell their whiskey right here!

Another use for whiskey bottles.

Which brings us to the question of how Irish Whiskey and Scotch Whiskey differ?  All whiskey starts out pretty much the same.  Barley.  Water.  Yeast.  Jameson also uses corn (maize). The barley is malted, meaning drenched with water and allowed to sprout.  Then it’s dried.  And here’s the main difference:  Scotch malted barley is dried using a peat fire, which imparts a smoky flavor, with some variations in smokiness.  Irish malted barley is dried in kilns, using pure hot air.  No smoky flavor. It’s then distilled to increase the alcoholic content.  With Jameson, it’s distilled three times.

The maturing process is essentially the same.  Jameson uses oak and oloroso sherry, and port casks or barrels.  Before it’s bottled, the whiskeys are ‘vatted’ together to allow the flavors to blend. Vatting still takes place in Dublin.

What’s the difference between a cask and a barrel?  None.  But there are differences between barrels.  A Brit beer barrel holds 36 Imperial gallons, or a little over 43 US gallons.  Cognac barrel = 79 usgal.  Bordeaux wine barrel = 59 usgal

Although Jameson does make a single malt variety, most of their whiskey is a combination of malted mash combined with un-malted mash and distilled in a pot still.  Lots of purists out there are going to call me on this and say there are a lot more differences.  Yeah, yeah, I know.  And, in whiskey making, every little change makes a difference in the final flavor, etc.  I say, dry up and pour!

At the distillery, you can do a tasting or op for one of those phuu-phuu drinks with fruity things and mounds of sugar that ruins good whiskey.  I'm keeping it a secret which way I lean.

The real stuff!

Citrus and stuff

Cherry and stuff

Fast Facts:  Jameson is the 3^rd largest single-distillery whiskey in the world.  Each year about 4 million cases (48 million bottles) are sold world-wide, making it the best selling Irish Whiskey!

Great, but what does it taste like?  Just purchased a bottle of Jameson 12 year old.  In a word, fabulous.  Smooth.  Soft hints of the sweetness of sherry, and the woodiness of oak.  Notes of cinnamon. The finish is smooth as glass, with full flavor and no burn.  Taste, like perversion, is such a personal matter that I hate to take a stand.  Scotch?  Irish?  I would never denigrate the Scots and their superb whiskies.  The breadth of flavors is extraordinary.  But, for now, I’m sticking with Jameson 12 Year Old.  Sláinte!

Smooth sippin'!!

Up in the Highlands, Down by the Speyside, Over in Nippon

Three Favorites

Shhhhh…not a word to anyone.  I’m about to share the results of my blind tasting of three sinfully delicious, single malt whiskeys.  By blind tasting, I mean I tasted until I couldn’t see the bottles.  Fortunately, I took photos and shouted out random comments to those around me also in various stages of what I term ‘sobriety withdrawal.’  With the alacrity of a bug-eyed drooler, I managed to scratch out a few notes of my own.

One of the outstanding features of all three of these whiskeys is that they will not break the bank.  As any other former prowler of the late night dens in Madrid, Paris, or London knows, a whiskey affliction can be a deep pocket experience.  Not so with these.  But, I’m the first to admit, cost is one thing and taste is another.  All three of these are in a steady parade through my liquor cabinet.  Their excellence is valued not only by the tiniest tinkle of golden coins, but also by joyous salivation.  Now let’s deal with the details.

Briefly:  Old Pulteney 12 year old hails from the far north of Scotland; in fact if you went any further north, ye’d be in with the fishes in Pentland Firth. (About $32)  It is the northern most distillery in all of Scotland, and is in the Highlands.

Glen Grant, The Major’s Reserve (no age given) is a Speyside variety (About $20) Where is Speyside,? you might well ask. Hold up your left hand, palm facing away.  Now put your right thumb on the part of your left hand where the thumb joins the forefinger.  That’s about where Speyside is.   What?  Are you nuts?  Put your hand down!

Suntory’s Yamazaki 12 year old (about $40) comes from the mountains near Kyoto, where three pristine rivers converge. Yamazaki roughly translates as Mountain Whiskey.  Only distilled since 1923, Yamazaki’s 12 year old has nevertheless won medals across the globe.  The 18 year old is supposed to be even smoother, but lacking the will to go into debt, I haven’t sampled it.

How many distilleries does Scotland have?  About a hundred active distilleries, but some of those are grain distilleries.  Which district is the largest in area?  The Highlands.  Which district has the most distilleries?  Speyside.  The name means by the River Spey.  Another fascinating fact about Scotch whiskey is that it tastes really, really good.  Ok, now that I’ve prepped you for bar bets, let’s talk about taste.

All three of these single malts are distinct in color and flavor.  Glen Grant, The Major’s Reserve is a bit milder, and with its light golden tint, it carries an almost fruity foundation, perhaps because it comes from further inland.  You roll it on your tongue and dream of sun-drenched afternoons, tempered with a gentle breeze.  Old Pulteney is quite different.  The distillery is right on the coast, near the town of Wick.  It may be because of the location that Pulteney brings to mind heavy sea air wrapped in a blanket of fog.  It’s a darker hue of gold. Sometimes called ‘the ship’s whiskey,’ it does indeed have a bare hint of salt on the finish.  Overall, there’s fullness that floats over the tongue, without a touch of sweetness.  This is a bolder whiskey than The Major’s Reserve.  Definitely an after dinner reward for having declined that extra potato and brandied torte with strawberry cream.  The third whiskey, Yamazaki’s 12 year old, is more robust than the other two, and carries a deeper, richer color and flavor.  In fact, as much as I like all three, (and will continue to spend my wife’s money on them), Yamazaki is a cut above.  The fullness of flavor rides softly on the palate, without any harsh edges.  Perhaps that’s why I tuck it away and hide it from all but a favored few.  By favored few, I of course mean you and that absolutely gorgeous woman you’re with.