Irish Grain Whiskey in a Pot Still?

[Shane Hallett]

Hi,

Can Irish Grain Whiskey be produced using a Pot Still and legally sold as such or must it be distilled using a column still?

[Good Whiskey Hunting]

Hi,

Can Irish Grain Whiskey be produced using a Pot Still and legally sold as such or must it be distilled using a column still?

An interesting question Shane. To my knowledge Grain Whiskey is distilled using grains other than malted barley although up to 30% barley can be used. All Grain Whiskey/whisky that I know of uses a Column still. There are lots of hybrid or Holstien still being used lately that can achieved higher yields but I don't know if it can be call Grain Whiskey if they use these. I'm not all that gone on them but that's me.

There are lots of changes to regulations lately and hopefully I'll find more detail.

I always thought it couldn't be call Irish Pot Still if it was made of grains other than Barely/malt but it can contain up to 5% other cereals. I know most Americans Whiskeys use grains other than Barley but don't call themselves grain whiskey regardless of the stills used.
I'll have to check into it a little more.

[DavidH]

Can Irish Grain Whiskey be produced using a Pot Still and legally sold as such or must it be distilled using a column still?

It must be distilled in a column still. This is a very new requirement, detailed in the Irish Whiskey Technical File. I covered this recently in a blog post:

http://www.liquidirish.com/2015/03/iris ... art-1.html