Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

Top 5 best Irish whiskies

By

best irish whiskies st patricks day 2014 jameson whiskey 1920x1080
Image used with permission by copyright holder
St. Patrick’s Day 2014 has officially arrived. And if you properly planned ahead, work has managed to stay off the agenda – as it should. This is a day for celebrating Irish heritage, spending time with friends and family and, of course, a healthy amount of drinking. But before you start loading up on green beer, take note: there are now more delicious Irish whiskies available in the U.S. than ever before. The bad news is, more selection means it’s harder to find the bottles worth your hard-earned dollars. Luckily for you, we’ve already done all the heavy lifting. Here are the five best Irish whiskies to help make this St. Patrick Day (semi-)memorable.

Jameson Select Reserve Single Distillery Black Barrel

Traditional Jameson may be your go-to shot – but it’s also an obvious pick. So skip to something a bit less predictable, like Jameson Black Barrel. Packing the same smooth, mellow taste as your average Jameson dram, Black Barrel upgrades the flavor with rich, deep notes of vanilla and spices, with a lingering finish that will leave you waiting for the next sip.

Recommended Videos

Bushmills 21 Year Single Malt

Bushmills is one of our favorite Irish spirits, and its 21 Year Single Malt takes the corn beef and cabbage as the distillery’s top-shelf bottle. Triple distilled and aged for 21 years in three types of barrels, the 21 Year offers imbibers full body notes of mocha, toffee, caramel, and spices. The only downside is its price: At around $200 per bottle, your wallet will be happy that St. Paddy’s Day only comes around once a year.

Related

Powers Gold Label Special Reserve 12 Year

A favorite among salt-of-the-earth Irishmen, the ever-affordable Powers Gold Label is the perfect dram to top off a hard-earned lunch. And the 12 Year version takes that same drinkable flavor a step up with light notes of wood, vanilla, spice, and a hint of smoke. With a hefty barley flavor, Powers starts off strong, but ends with a light, easy finish that makes this bottle one of the best for an all-day affair. Just beware: If you’re a Jameson fan, this spirit just might make you switch to a new team.

Green Spot Single Pot Still

A relatively new arrival for the U.S. market, Green Spot Single Pot Still is crafted from both malted and unmalted barley spirits, which are triple distilled in a pot still from a single distillery. With fruit-filled notes that combine with oak, salt, and clove spices, Green Spot finishes nice and clean, as an Irish whiskey should. If you’re looking for something new to try this St. Patrick’s Day, Green Spot may be your best bet.

Redbreast Single Pot Still 12 Year Cask Strength

Like Green Spot, this Redbreast expression is single pot stilled (meaning it leaves out spirits made from anything other than barley). It’s also aged in old sherry casks, giving it hints of fig and dark chocolate, with a bit of smoke in the mix for good measure. Just don’t drink this dram too fast – at a fiery 115 proof, it’s best to enjoy this one before your better judgment has gone off to find a pot at the end of a rainbow.

Editors’ Recommendations

Andrew Couts
Andrew Couts
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Here are a half dozen Irish liquors worth trying (that aren’t whiskey)
St Patrick's Day doesn't have to always mean green beer and whiskey. Here are six other Irish liquors to look into.
6 Must-Try Irish Spirits

With St. Patrick's Day on the horizon, the masses tend to gravitate towards the standard Irish drinks. You know, a finger or two of whiskey and a Guinness to wash it all down. As tasty as the popular options are, Irish liquor has much more to offer in terms of intriguing fermented liquids.

From interesting gins and smooth cream liqueurs to things you've probably never heard of (Poitín), we've put together a half-dozen Irish liquors worth checking out this March and beyond. They offer new flavor profiles and reveal a country with way more to its name than just lagers, stouts, and whiskies. If you're looking for Irish drinks this St. Paddy's Day and perhaps tired of the same old, read on.

Read more
Drink these delicious Irish beers on St. Patrick’s Day (and beyond)
Ready to sip like the Irish this St. Patrick's Day? Here are some great beer options from across the pond
beer head mug glass

Beer and St. Patrick's Day go together like corned beef and cabbage. The Irish holiday is just a few weeks away, which means it's time to get into the spirit. A great way to do so is with a crisp lager or hearty Irish stout from across the pond.

The masses can have their green-dyed beer. We all know it's just Budweiser anyway. Why not crack a real Irish brew? Granted, many of Ireland's best craft beers are a bit harder to come by stateside (but do ask about them at your favorite bottle shop) but even the larger producers are turning out some pretty tasty suds.

Read more
5 incredible corned beef hash recipes for St. Patrick’s Day
From classic hash to patties, these corned beef hash recipes will leave you stuffed this St. Patrick's Day

Corned beef is a staple of Irish cuisine thanks to Ireland's role in producing corned beef for trade purposes centuries ago. (Fun fact: the word "corned" comes not from using corn in the process but from using large rock salt crystals, or corns, that are used to cure the meat.) While the Irish themselves didn't traditionally eat corned beef in Ireland (it was cost-prohibitive to do so), the Irish that came to America ended up eating it because, as it turns out, corned beef was one of the salted meat products that they could afford.

Every year around St. Patrick’s Day, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a store or Irish pub that isn’t serving up a heaping plate of salt-cured meat. Great on its own (if you’re a fan of salt), corned beef really shines when paired with vegetables that help balance the rich flavor of the meat.

Read more