WASHINGTON — Enough with the green beer already. Why not go for something a little more authentic on St. Patrick’s Day? It’s time to give Irish whiskey a second look.
“There are many good things about Irish whiskey and about Irish drinking culture, and a lot of that gets lost — especially in the United States — behind this stereotypical image of St. Patrick’s Day, green beer and shots of cheap Irish whiskey,” says J.P. Fetherston, head bartender at Columbia Room in D.C.
In homage to St. Patrick’s Day, Columbia Room is featuring the good stuff in its Spirits Library for the entire month of March. Fetherston says he’s hoping it will help to separate fact from lore when it comes to Irish whiskeys.
“For the most part, they’re excellent,” Fetherston says. “There’s some amazing quality out there.”
Getting a real taste of Ireland
Irish whiskeys represent a small segment on the spectrum of whiskey styles out there, but it doesn’t make them any less distinct.
“They all have this lovely interplay between unripe fruit flavors and rich, toffee-like dessert flavors,” Fetherston says.
In comparison, American whiskeys flavor profiles are characterized by the charred oak barrels in which they are aged. For scotch, the malted barley and cereal flavors are prominent.
The unique style of Irish Whiskey, derived from the use of unmalted barley and triple distillation in single pot stills, gives certain whiskeys a distinctive oily texture, something more pronounced than American bourbons and ryes, and in most scotches.
These types of whiskeys have the taste of ginger and spice, rich dried fruit and “toffee-fudge, Christmas pudding” flavors, Fetherston says.
Irish whiskey sales taking off
Sales data suggest that D.C. residents are warming up to Irish whiskey. According to figures from the Distilled Spirits Council, the Irish whiskey sales in D.C. increased 85 percent between 2010 and 2015, when they reached $15.9 million.
Fetherston recommends Redbreast, Powers John’s Lane brands — even well-known names like Jameson, which he described as a summer whiskey, are worth giving a try.
“Some of the best whiskeys out there, period, made are by the same people who make Jameson and are called Midleton,” Fetherston says. “If they take the best whiskeys that went into the Jameson blend and sort of tweaked them and aged them longer, that’s Midleton.”
Fetherston has personal ties to the spirt. His mother is from Tipperary, Ireland. He actually has a relative named Paddy O’Toole, who drinks his whiskey hot.
“I’ve seen this richer side of Irish culture,” Fetherston says. “It’s nice to give people a little bit of glimpse into something beyond the St. Patrick’s Day craziness.”
