IRISH people don’t need an excuse to have a drink, but there is even more of an incentive this weekend.
Saturday is World Whiskey Day and events are taking place all over the globe to celebrate it.
Having a wee dram is more popular now than ever.
Whiskey connoisseur Pat Blake of Blake’s of the Hollow bar in Enniskillen believes that quality Irish whiskey is going through a phase of phenomenal growth that is attracting the attention of both consumers and collectors worldwide.
“The world of Irish whiskey is growing phenomenally – both for drinking and for investment. It’s a global market that’s very sought after, especially with the collectible whiskey,” Mr Blake, pictured below, explained.
“We supply some of our own single casks to collectors around the world.
“We’ve single casks of Powers, Red Breast and Midleton. The Powers is sold out, while there are limited quantities left of the Red Breast and Midleton. They cost from £300 upwards.
“The ultimate in Irish whiskey is the Midleton Silent Distillery. They release anything from 80-120 bottles a year for five years. Only two bottles come to Northern Ireland and we get one of them. Pricewise it’s well into five figures.”
So where did it all begin?
Well, the first evidence of distillation – the essential process for creating whiskey – dates back to Mesopotamia around 2000 B.C. Distillation techniques for whiskey wouldn’t come around until around 1100 when monks travelling into Scotland fermented grain mash and created the first instance of the beverage.
However, the first year in which whiskey was officially mentioned as a distilled product was in 1405. It’s written in a family’s history that someone in their clan died after drinking too much at Christmas!
Over the next hundred years, whiskey distillation became widespread in Scotland. Later, when King Henry VIII of England disbanded monasteries, many monks made their living by selling the whiskey they distilled to the general public.
It’s been whiskey galore since then.
To read more on this story see this week’s Fermanagh Herald. Can’t get to the shop to collect your copy? No problem! You can download a copy straight to your device by following this link… Subscribe to current edition
To read more.. Subscribe to current edition
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere