History of peating in Irish whiskey

[DavidH]

I was waiting for JCSkinner to return from the sub-continent before asking this question. Some of you will have heard me enquire about this before but I have a new motivation to ask it again...

I picked up a Bushmills beermat that says "At Bushmills we introduced the smoking ban 4 centuries ago... every drop of Bushmills Irish Whiskey tastes completely smoke-free". Now, ignoring the 400 years bit, the clear implication is that Bushmills has never produced a peated whiskey in its history.

Against this, someone once told me that in the book Spirit of the Age, by Alf McCreary, there is a reference to peated whiskey from Bushmills but I've yet to go back to that book to check this.

My question: is there documented evidence of peated Irish whiskey from any legitimate Irish distillery, aside from the obvious Connemara? I have an idea Hewitts was originally designed as a Scotch knock-off by IDL and so may have been peated back in the day (please correct me if I'm wrong) but that's not what I'm looking for either.

I'm mainly interested in any historical evidence of peating in Irish whiskey. I also think this is the kind of question the society should be an authority on.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

I thought I had heard that or did I read it... that Bushmills had been very very lightly peated back in the day and when I say lightly it was so light that it was virtually un-noticable. Can't remember where I came by that maybe I read it but it may have been Alf's book I think this calls for a tasting of some old bottles

On a side note Bushmills also used to make PPS again many moons ago but it is our pleasure that they decided to concentrate on single Malts.

[JohnM]

I also heard that Bushmills peated a small portion of its malt. I read it somewhere.

Also, Hewitts was peated. They had a bottle of the peated version in the Celtic Whiskey Shop a few years ago.

[jcskinner]

Very naughty of Bushmills to suggest they never peated whiskey.
Not as naughty as pretending to be hundreds of years older than they actually are, but still pretty disingenuous.
Everyone's quite correct - Hewitts was peated quite recently and historically, according to McCreary, Bush was mildly peated.
I don't have the book to hand, but I definitely remember noting that. I will go check and come back with a quote at some point.
I have sealed Bush bottles going back to the Thirties, so it may be possible to do a taste check on this.
Obviously, a lot of poitin was historically peated, especially in Antrim and Donegal. I think there's some info on this in John McGuffin's 'In Praise of Poteen'. Peating certainly wasn't the norm in Ireland at all, but going back quite some distance, at least among the unparliamentary distillers, there was a tradition of it occurring.
The wider issue of the society becoming the repository of knowledge on such matters is a very good one to raise. Getting to the bottom of issues like the historic peating of Irish whiskey or the history of Irish single malt would be a great start in demonstrating a collective competence.

[jcskinner]

I checked the McGuffin book and there are a number of references to 'smokey' poitin. He even quotes Nineteenth and Eighteenth century ballads which refer to the smokiness of the 'cratur' and how customers preferred it to the legal product.
So, we can say at least that there was definitely a peating of poitin in some parts, especially Donegal and Tyrone.
I don't know if this entirely substantiates Cooley's claim that Connemara is in keeping with an old West of Ireland peating tradition. But certainly there appears to have been a Northern peating tradition among the unparliamentary distillers.

[DavidH]

An illicit distiller would have two choices when sourcing his malt: buy it from a professional maltster, or malt it himself. If he malts it himself, is closed kiln technology within the realms of possibility for a micro-scale amateur?

Does McGuffin shed light on this? If poteen distillers made their own malt, what source of fuel did they use? If they used coal, would that impart a smoky taste too?

By the way, is that a good book? Does it belong in the required reading list started by IrishWhiskeyChaser over here?

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Is this the book on Poitín? 'In Praise of Poteen'. If so then McGuffin may not have concentrated too much on the use of peating in whiskey, but not having read it I am only surmising.

[jcskinner]

It is indeed that book. I've started re-reading it to be thorough. But so far, no mention of smokiness or peating among formal legal distilleries.
It is indeed a good book, a little patchy and conversational in places but some great historical information on legislation in Ireland relating to distilling and obviously it is a fantastic resource on illegal distillation.
McGuffin doesn't really clarify HOW the malt was peated by poitin makers, although he does feature a number of different recipes and mashbills going back, allegedly, as far as the 7th century (though he notes that recipe is likely Arab and not Irish.)
But he states in a couple of places that even when the price of legal whiskey fell in the Nineteenth century, it was in many places disregarded because locals preferred the smokey taste of poitin.
I'm back in work, so I'll dig out some quotes when I get home.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Just found it on Amazon and there are a few new & second hand available ....

Look for all occurrences of the book as they are mixed all over the place.

Some wild pricing anything from £6.50 to £123.13

I got an original first edition hardback & signed by author in so called very good condition for under 20Euro

Another to add to the Library.

Thanks for the heads up JC would not of thought about a book like this other wise.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Okay, I have been reading through Peter Mulryan's book on Bushmills.

BUSHMILLS; 400 years in the making

And I have come up with a mini revelation

In it was an interesting bit of information on Malting.

Bushmills had it's own malting up till 1972. It was a traditional Malting and hence would mean a direct fire under the Kiln therefore smoke could penetrate the Malt. However in theory a traditional malting can dry out malt with out introducing too much smoke by keeping the fire low and glowing and keep the peat or smoke influence negligible.

However, according to Peter Mulryan, what is interesting about the Bushmills set up was that the kiln fire was started with peat hence the malt would be very lightly peated before the introduction of coal to keep the heat going.

Further, again according to Peter Mulryan, in the 70's IDL experimented with a very heavily peated malt in Bushmills but it was not a success as it did not suit the malt Bushmills produced. (Maybe this was blended away in Hewitts)

So there you go ... Irish Whiskey has been peated for longer than we realise and up to modern times so there is actually a very tiny break in tradition than we would have thought and Cooley were just taking on the mantel and maybe pushing it a bit further. Of course any mention of this may have tarnished the Bushmills brand (in IDLs eyes) .

[DavidH]

Well spotted!

I think it's reasonable for Bushmills marketing to overlook this use of peat since it was not used deliberately to flavour the malt, rather to start the kiln fire. I assume the resulting whiskey lacked anything approaching a smokey taste.

The IWS, on the other hand, regards no detail as too minor in the pursuit of the true story!

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Well spotted!

I assume the resulting whiskey lacked anything approaching a smokey taste.

Correct ... it is only from the likes of Jim Murray & Peter Mulryan who have passed fleeting mentions to the slightest traces of smoke or peat from older bottlings that have irked our curiosity. However I don't think my taste is sensitive enough to get these type of traces.

[TheWhiskeyBro]

I have been doing a bit of research on this. I have found 'hard' evidence of a peated whiskey that existed in the past. Not quite finished looking but will keep you all in suspense for now and hopefully post something over the weekend...... drumroll....

[DavidH]

I have been doing a bit of research on this. I have found 'hard' evidence of a peated whiskey that existed in the past. Not quite finished looking but will keep you all in suspense for now and hopefully post something over the weekend...... drumroll....

This is huge!

[TheWhiskeyBro]

“Whiskey of the best quality is publicly – fearlessly sold in the town [Lifford, Co. Donegal] and neighbourhood without paying duty. ‘Pure Inishowen’ for five shillings a gallon; and, in the country parts significantly cheaper.” - ‘Travels in Ireland in 1822.’

"To return to whisky. Inishowen is accounted the best potheen; but as far as regards my own private drinking. I prefer that manufactured at Roscrea, in the county of Tipperary." -
‘Maxims of O Doherty 1824’

“Inishowen, celebrated in every land for it’s noble whisky, second only – if second it be, (which I am bound as a Scotchman to doubt) – to that of Ferntosh or Glenlivet." –
‘The Quarterly Review, March & July 1832’.

"They make a great noise in the North of your whisky, but is it impossible to persuade me that your Glenlivet, or whatever is the crack drink in Scotland, is equal to our Inishowen or Roscrea. At all events, I will give you the opportunity of trying, and you may decide impartially." -
'Fraser’s Magazine for Town and Country 1832’.

“In fact, is not private distilled spirits generally considered much better than any other? – This would not hold as the general truth; Innishowen whiskey is considered remarkedly fine; but a large portion of the private distilled spirit is not considered to be equal to the regular distilled spirit; it has a peculiar flavour which many persons relish, the peated flavour, which it contracts in the making.” –
‘Evidence on Drunkenness Presented to the House of Commons 1834.’

“It is remarkable, that the spirit made from dates, in most parts of Egypt, has a smoky taste or flavour like Scotch and Innishowen whiskey, yet mellow as if tinctured with honey.” -
Inventions and Customs Ancient and Modern Nations in the Manufacture and use of inebriating liquors - 1838.

“Here, until late of years, the illicit distiller carried on his trade without the remotest dread of interruption; the whiskey of Inishowen became proverbial for it’s excellence, and the coast from Moville round to Killybegs became famous for all that was rude, uncultivated and lawless.” -
‘Ireland; Its Scenery, Character &c. 1843.’

“Watts Old Innishowen” was a whiskey brand made entirely of grain whiskey and in 1885 there was a legal battle over the use of the name Innishowen with a merchant’s bottling called ‘O’Hanlon’s Old Innishowen’.

So it seems reasonable to conclude that both Inishowen 'Poitin' and Inishowen 'Whiskey' were made side by side in the north west of Ireland and that the peated style of both was very popular in that part of the country.

[TheWhiskeyBro]

Mr William Virtue, was the Managing Director of United Distilleries Ltd of Belfast (formed 1902) and was previously manager and director of David Watt & Co. Ltd, Derry for twelve years. UDL consisted of the Irish Distillery Ltd, Avoniel Distillery Ltd. & David Watt & Co. Ltd. In testimony to the Royal Commission on Whiskey (Ireland) in 1908 he states…. “Coffey’s still was patented in 1831. It has been suggested that it was many years after this date before it was used in making whiskey. This is not so; for I have traced back, and find that a still of this make was erected by Ross T. Smith, the predecessor of David Watt & Co., at our Abbey Street Distillery, Londonderry in the year 1833, or just two years after the invention was patented. This establishes the fact that at least 75 years ago a patent still was erected in an Irish whiskey distillery, taking the place of a pot still. But this was not the only one. Both the North and the South of Ireland had adopted this new system of distillation 75 years ago, and the point I wish to bring out is this – that Coffey’s patent still was erected at Londonderry for the purpose of producing whiskey, not silent spirit. Ross Smyth not only succeeded in producing whiskey with his Coffey’s still, but also a whiskey with a definite “peat” flavour."

From reports on the use of 'The Patent Still in Ireland' to "Royal Commission on Whiskey" April 6 1908

[TheWhiskeyBro]

In May 1964 the Cork Distilleries Co. Ltd introduced Hewitt’s Whiskey for the first time, it was described by Mr Ronald Murphy of Cork Distilleries Co. Ltd as a light Irish whiskey, distilled to appeal to modern tastes in whiskey drinking. The distillery started work on the new drink ten years earlier in 1954. It was hoped to export it in later years when sufficient stocks had been built up. The blend was made of whiskies six to ten years old. It was the only Midleton blend produced that did not contain pot-still, indeed Jim Murray also says that “originally, peated malt was used, though no more.” Irish Distillers decided in 2004 not to produce this unique blend any longer.

The only documented evidence I can find about Hewitt's containing peated malt is from Jim Murrays book 'Classic Irish Whiskey'.

[DavidH]

The only documented evidence I can find about Hewitt's containing peated malt is from Jim Murrays book 'Classic Irtish Whiskey'.

I have a feeling there is mention of it in The Irish Times archive. My recollection may be flawed but I think you said you have access so you might try a quick search?

The rest of the stuff above looks great. New to me and throws some good light on the peat question. I need to come back to it later to parse it more carefully.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

All very interesting ... looks like history is a bit of a jig-saw ...

So can we take it that inishowen was born in Roscrea?

A bit like the rashers and pudding

I too have read that the Abbey Street distillery in Derry had installed a colulm still very early on and it was actually installed by Coffee himself believe it or not. So they were producing a peated spiriti through it ... l

[Whiskey Pilgrim]

Kaixo Chicos,
It the past we had over 2000 distillerie´s,yet where is the proof?where are the labels? documentation etc??dont get me wrong i am quite sure they existed,but i think a life of brian type of conspiracey went on..you know when mozes comes out with 3 tablets of 15 commandments,but drops one and presents the two with 10,and the rest as they say is history..and so we have the myth that Irish whiskey is non peated trippled distilled etc etc
Look the Scots make eyerything doublled/Trippled distilled not two mention their various malts..ie Vatted Malt,Pure Malt ..which hopefully they are addressing as we speak..
Last year the Japanese won all the top awards,and whiskey is a new product for them..so i am all for us Irish making what we want..
And i really want to see new and innovative distilling techniques and products...........

at the end of the day theirs Parliment whiskey or Poteen flavoured whiskey !!Slainte,,

[varizoltan]

i just having a bit of Old Comber 7 years old, what i got today from JonhM
i haven't got much experience in older whiskeys, but for the first time i found a slightly peaty nose and taste in Irish whiskey

[JohnM]

In Alf McCreary's Spirit of the Age, The story of Old Bushmills, former distillery manager Willie MacKay seems to mention peating at the distillery. He served his apprenticeship at Talisker... He says: "It is the drying stage that gives the whiskey its peaty flavour. The fire is fuelled by peat or turf, which contains phenols... and the phenols in the smoke are absorbed by the moist grain. Some have a heavier peaty flavour than otheirs. Old Bushmills is light, but others like the whisky from Islay have a much heavier aroma."

MacKay started his job at Bushmills in 1970 and was Production Manager at the time the book was written in the early 1980s.

[TheWhiskeyBro]

Doing a bit of further research on Peated Irish Whiskey and in February 1818 five from 33 distilleries were using turf as their main fuel.

Holtan & O'Beirne (Patrick O'Burne) Athlone, Co. Westmeath
John Birch Roscrea, Co. Tipperary
Robert Hackett, Elmgrove Birr, Co.Offaly
John Robinson Birr, Co.Offaly
John Cassidy Monastereven, Co. Kildare

These were all 'mixed grain distillers' producing a potsill that was typically 2/3rds or 66% [Unmalted] Barley, 1/5th or 20% Malt[ed Barley] & 1/7th or 14% Oats.
So it is highly probable a peated pure pot still whiskey was indeed produced in the past.

Source:The Newry Magazine; Or, Literary & Political Register, Volume 4

[DavidH]

It's very simple to use turf as a fuel source to dry malt without imparting a peaty flavour though. Here, for example, is a diagram of a malting kiln from 1805 that draws clean air into an iron tube that is heated by fire on the outside. The heated air within the tube is vented through the grain.

http://books.google.ie/books?id=-dYaAAA ... &q&f=false

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Yes these were called closed Kiln's. I think this system was common and wide spread i Ireland so as you say the use of turf is not a true indicator as to peated malt. Worth consideration though and possibly if they are smaller scale operations they may not have used the closed kiln but that is pure speculation. Geographically though it was a logical fuel to use by the midlands operators.