The alcohol is far too harsh and volatile for consumption and is what caused the blindness scare with cheap moonshine. Its first time through results in a low alcohol spirit called “low wines.” These low wines are typically anywhere from 20% to 40% ABV, and are mixed with another liquid leftover from the prior distillation called “weak feints.” The low wine and weak feints mix is then put through the second copper pot still, called the feints still.Īfter the first thirty minutes of distillation in the feints still, the resulting alcohol distilled from the wash and weak feints is called the “heads cut,” and is set aside for a different step. This wash gets distilled three times, hence “Triple Distilled” on the label. This wash is the stuff that will eventually result in Jameson. Basically a beer that’s anywhere from 10-12% ABV, according to O’Donovan. The wort is mixed with yeast and over the next 60 to 80 hours, the yeast consumes the fermentable sugars, producing carbon dioxide and alcohol. After they separate the grain and the wort, leftover barley is turned into feed for livestock. For those who haven’t, wort is the barley juice that results from steeping the malted and unmalted barley in warm water. The germinating barley is then dried in a heat exchanger, where it is then combined with the unmalted barley to make “wort.” Anyone who’s dabbled in homebrewing should recognize that word. When you see little sprouts coming from the grain, that’s the signal that the barley has been successfully malted and is producing easily fermentable sugars. Essentially, the malting process involves tricking the barley into germination by washing it, steeping it in water for around 40 hours, and then letting it sit for a few days. According to O’Donovan, because Ireland’s cooler, grey skied climate can’t support sun-hungry corn crops, the distillery has to get corn from Spain’s sun-rich Basque Country.īefore the malted and unmalted barleys are mixed together to do their magic, you have to actually distinguish between the two. On the other side of the barley is maize, a fancy word for corn. It’s a method they’ve used for over 200 years, and they’re one of the few companies left on the planet that still does it. O’Donovan told us they prefer a mix of malted and unmalted barley because the “green” barley makes the whiskey a little spicy, a little grainy, and a little barley-er. But it gets the distinction of single pot because it’s all made in a pot still under one roof in Midleton. It can’t be called a single malt, because single malt is a term used to refer to liquids made using only malted barley. Jameson also uses a mix of malted and unmalted barley in their booze in a single pot still. These farmers plant the barley in mid March or early April, for a late summer harvest in August and September. They work with around 200 smaller farmers, and source the two-row spring barley from plots of land anywhere from 15 to 700 acres.
Jameson sources their barley from Southern Ireland, all within 50 or so miles or so from the Midleton site. You can also only call your whiskey an Irish whiskey if it’s been distilled in Ireland, then aged on the island for no less than three years. This type of whiskey gets the added distinction of being Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey if it is distilled in only one distillery. To be considered a pot still whiskey, the whiskey must be made from a mash bill of at least 30% malted and unmalted barley and distilled in pot stills, which are those big shiny copper stills you see in every marketing shot of a distillery. The majority of Irish whiskeys (something like 90%) are a type of blended whiskey made from pot still whiskey and grain whiskey. So, we went with Jameson to their distillery in Midleton, County Cork, and spoke to Jameson International Brand Ambassador and Head Tutor of the Jameson Whiskey Academy Ciarán O’Donovan to learn more. While you might know the general process behind making Irish whiskey, we wanted to delve a little deeper to find out exactly how the process works. What we respect about the brand-aside from their products, of course-is that through the good times and bad, they never cut corners and never sacrificed their standards of quality to save a quick buck. For nearly 240 years Jameson has produced some of the best and highest selling Irish whiskey in the world.