Non aged Irish Whiskey

[Whiskey in th Jar]

I'm looking for people's opinions on non aged whiskey ie poitin ?
Also is there a market for it ?

[TheWhiskeyBro]

Becoming more popular, but I suspect demand is very small and limited. Naturally the terms non-aged and whiskey do not legally go hand in hand!

[DavidH]

There is no market for poitín at the moment because it's essentially a new (commercial) product. So some company with either deep pockets or boundless enthusiasm is going to have to create a market. But no rich company is stepping up to spend big marketing bucks (it's faintly possible that Beam would do it to follow up a success with Jacob's Ghost). And I'm not really feeling the buzz from any of the current producers of poitín hoping to build word of mouth on the cheap.

If there is any route by which poitín will crack the big time, my guess it will be if a cool bartender gets behind it and makes it "a thing" locally, which spreads virally. For example, Americans are shooting Jameson and pickle juice at the moment. I assume that has happened organically, rather than via some smart guerrilla marketing from IDL. Poitín needs something similar. There is a bar in Kentish Town, London, called Shebeen that is doing exciting and original cocktails based on poitín. They will soon release their own brand of the stuff. I'll be watching to see if they can make some waves.

So, Whiskey in th Jar, what's your own opinion? Do you ask for any particular reason?

[Joel1802]

Jameson and Pickle juice?!? I don't care for Jameson's, but I don't see that helping the situation.

[Good Whiskey Hunting]

When I read this I immediately thought of the Moonshiner series, one of the characters was called Pickle.

I have no doubt that póitin and moonshine will someday be top shelf drinks. It all about marketing.

Popcorn Sutton's death made the news when he killed himself. I know that some producer has came out with a legal Moonshine called "white whiskey" which is meant to be a Sutton recipe.

I know no aged whiskey can't be used as a term here but póitin has been creeping into the market. Cooleys Póitin was very good and tasted like the real stuff (or so I'm told )and there are a few more recently that have been received well.

[Fionnán]

those of you (willie...) who have heard my poitin rant before, read no further... Unfortunately, the majority of legal "poitins/potcheens" out there arent either traditional poitin or even unaged whiskey at all but, essentially, neutral grain spirits (ie vodkas) with a funny name and usually a healthy wallop of paddywhackery on the label. In fact, there's very little cohesion as to what this new category is supposed to be other than one more white spirit with a fake history. Poitin, right down to the name itself (i.e. little pot) is unaged pot still product (i guarantee you no farmer in the history of booze was using a column still.) The glendalough stuff is almost certainly column still vodka (albeit an interesting vodka with a bit of beet thrown in), bunratty and knockeen hills are an insult to the word and, as much as i like the teeling stuff, even thats not technically "poitin" in any historically defensible sense (it's essentially an unaged blend, i.e. with a column still component) but at least we're in the realm of whiskey here. I agree with Willie that the most delicious stuff by a long mile was the Cooley poitín (may it rest in peace) and whoever told willie that it tastes like the real thing has told me much the same thing... whether or not commercial poitin tries to resemble trad poitin (you know, they could always throw in some copper sulphate and alll the less savoury aspects of illicit distilling), it'd be incredible to see the term emerge as a descriptor for newmake whiskey. In the states the term "white dog" has been used for ages to describe essentially that and many emerging microdistilleries are doing a great trade in those.

[cianc1]

Funnily enough, The Jameson and pickle juice was invented by Max Warner, a chivas regal and plymouth gin brand ambassador, who coincidentally works for pernod-ricard(IDL).
Correct me if i'm wrong but i'm pretty sure the Teeling Poitin is from the same batch as the Cooley Poitin

[Fionnán]

hey Cian, i'm not sure where alex cooked up the Teeling stuff as the rest of their stocks are ex-bushmills products but the official 'Cooley poitin' was the result of the single pot still experiments they were running in Louth before Beam Global bought them and it tastes the part. 50% malted, 50% unmalted mashbill. gorgeous electric stuff. like the sour patch kids of white spirits. The Teeling poitin is an unaged blend. I assume the column still spirit came from cooley as they were unlikely to get it from IDL so i'm guessing the pot still-made side of that was standard cooley tyrconnell-type newmake? I doubt bushmills sold them newmake spirit. If the pot still side of it was, in fact, the old cooley SPS mixed mash stuff, its left no trace of its past life behind... maybe alex can clarify?