Review: Jameson Original Irish Whiskey

Jameson Original Irish Whiskey is more commonly known as Jameson Irish Whiskey, but with 10 different varieties of Jameson currently produced, and more on the way, Jameson Original is now the official branding.  This is the first of ten Irish Whiskey reviews I have scheduled for the next 9 weeks.  With St. Patrick’s Day only 9 weeks away look for one every Monday until March 17th.  Jameson currently has about 80% of the US Irish Whiskey market, so it was easy deciding who to start with.  The 1780 on the bottle of Jameson refers to the year Bow Street Distillery in Dublin Ireland was built.  In 1786 John Jameson, married Margaret Haig a cousin of the distilleries owner and he moved from Scotland to manage the distillery.  In 1810 he took over ownership of the distillery.  To say Irish Whiskey has been on a roller coaster ride of popularity is an understatement.  At its peak near the end of the 19th century Irish Whiskey controlled 70% of the world wide whiskey market and there where 88 licensed distilleries selling 12 million cases a year.  By the 1980’s that figure had been reduced to 200,000 cases with only four distilleries remaining open.  Most of the blame for this goes to two events, The Irish War for Independence which started in 1919, and denied Irish Distillers access to export markets, and US Prohibition which ran from 1920-1933.  Today Irish Whiskey is the worlds fastest growing spirit.  There are now 18 operating distilleries with 16 more announced.  Jameson Original Irish Whiskey is made from three ingredients, barley both malted and unmalted and grown within 100 miles of the distillery, non GMO maize grown in the South of France, and water sourced from the Dungourney River.  Jameson is a blend of pot still and fine grain whiskeys.  Both are triple distilled and aged for a minimum four years in previously used bourbon barrels and Spanish Sherry casks.  Since the Midelton Distillery crafts both of these spirits, they control the production process from grain to glass.  Master Blender Billy Leighton artfully blends the whiskeys before bottling at 80 proof.               Read more