Irish Whiskey Reviews

Single Pot Still is the quintessential Irish Whiskey style, championed by Midleton Distillery for the past 50 years while the industry was shifting from slump to rebirth. The launch of Jameson Single Pot Still in October 2022 was significant, the brand's first release of the style in decades and a welcome companion to the distillery's other pot still expressions like Redbreast, Powers, and the Spot range. Limited to Ireland, the UK, and airport duty free, the Jameson Single Pot Still was not available in the US market until September 2026, but rebranded as Distiller's Batch. Both expressions are bottled at...

Two important and seemingly unrelated events are converging as August 2026 comes to a close. The first is Frankenstein Day on August 30th commemmorating author Mary Shelley's birthday. The second is the end of the public review a few days later of the Irish Whiskey Technical File for the first time since its release in October 2014. Changing the controversial and oft criticized Tecnical File, the document dictating the standards for Irish Whiskey production, is considered overdue given the explosion of new distilleries and independent brands over the past dozen years. It is timely to revisit two core expressions from...

Accord Stone Irish Whiskey is an independent brand that launched in 2025. This premium sourced blend is named for an ancient part of Celtic folklore. So what is an Accord Stone? The story goes that ancient Celts placed standing stones containing a hole on common ground for the purpose of taking oaths or marriage vows, sealing agreements, and binding contracts. This was done by shaking hands through the stone. Most of these stones have been lost to time; however, there are several notable examples remaining in Ireland.  The most famous accord stone is probably located at the Old Head of...

Kilkenny, Ireland is credited as the birthplace of Irish Whiskey, attributed to the first written recipe of 'uisce beatha' in the Red Book of Ossory back in 1324. Ballykeefe Distillery brought whiskey making back to Kilkenny when it opened in 2016. Located just a few minutes outside Kilkenny city, Ballykeefe is a family owned, single farm, grain to glass operation.  The distillery is the brainchild of Morgan Ging, who after years of research, launched the distillery on the farm to diversify and sustain the family business for future generations. The artisinal, single estate operation began distilling in 2017, reviving a...

The Natterjack is Ireland's only native toad. An endangered species, the toad is hard to find but can be located primarily in County Kerry. Luckily, the Natterjack Irish Whiskey range is much easier to locate across the USA.  Natterjack toads are part of folklore and magic rituals which have a similar process to whiskey making. One ritual magic practice sought to obtain the toad bone, a talismanic object giving its holder power over horses. The ritual involved first placing a Natterjack toad in a copper pot with holes before then burying it in an ant hill long enough for the...