The distillation of Irish Whiskey has a long history, no one knows for sure when it first began. Some sources place it as early as the 6th Century when Irish monks brought the distillation process back from the Middle East . We may never know for sure but can be thankful it was started sometime in the distance past, enabling many hundreds of years of experience and perfection to bring us to the stage we are at today. Certainly the distillation process in Ireland is many hundreds of years old.
In Gaelic the drink became knowh as "Uisce Beatha" which means "water of life." The Normans called it "fuisce" and eventually it evolved into "whiskey." What needs to come together? Barley, clear waters, and peat for the fires to toast the barley are the key ingredients. They are certainly all found in Ireland !
Apart from the spelling Irish whisk(e)y differs from Scotch Whisky in that normally Irish is distilled three times (but not always) verses two for most scotch. The malting process also differs between Irish & Scoth, as Irish Whiskey uses sprouted barley dried in a closed kiln that is then mixed with unmalted barley before being ground into a grist. This accounts for the smoothness of Irish whiskey and the "non-peaty" taste compared to Scotch.
