An Intro to Irish Whisk(e)y

Distillation methods and improvements.

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8Ball
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An Intro to Irish Whisk(e)y

Post by 8Ball »

🎱 The struggle is real and this rabbit hole just got interesting.
Per a conversation I had with Mr. Jay Gibbs regarding white oak barrel staves: “…you gotta get it burning good.”
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Re: An Intro to Irish Whisk(e)y

Post by Bushman »

8Ball you are on a roll this morning. Here is a thread you might be interested in.
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=50963&hilit=History+of+Whisky
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Re: An Intro to Irish Whisk(e)y

Post by 8Ball »

Sweet! Subscribed. Thanks.
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🎱 The struggle is real and this rabbit hole just got interesting.
Per a conversation I had with Mr. Jay Gibbs regarding white oak barrel staves: “…you gotta get it burning good.”
tiramisu
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Re: An Intro to Irish Whisk(e)y

Post by tiramisu »

When someone writes that the shape of the boiler will effect the taste of the whiskey I start to be suspiscious.
The Baker
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Re: An Intro to Irish Whisk(e)y

Post by The Baker »

tiramisu wrote: Sun Nov 15, 2020 2:50 pm When someone writes that the shape of the boiler will effect the taste of the whiskey I start to be suspiscious.
That's an old belief in scotch distilleries.
May be less applicable in hobby sized stills?

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Re: An Intro to Irish Whisk(e)y

Post by zapata »

I think it's bound to have an effect in commercial sizes. How else do you have 2 scotch distilleries making distinct product while doing almost exactly the same thing with almost exactly the same ingredients? Small differences do seem to matter.

Maybe less applicable in hobby stills, or maybe we just have so few replications and so little chance to compare when we make changes. I know I have a strong opinion that I like my pot stilled whiskey better from a tall riser than with no riser. I won't go so far as to say the riser is what gives my whiskey hints of lolipops and the aroma of moonbeams. But I do like it better.

But I do get the sentiment. No distillery is using a particular shaped pot still because it makes it taste like citrus or toffee. They are using it because that's what some enterprising old guy bought a long time ago and whatever it spit out is just how it worked out. Not unlike us in that sense.
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