Bushmills has been distilling for over 400 years, ever since King James I issued a licence to distil in 1608. It triple distils in the traditional Irish fashion and was, until Cooley’s revival of the Connemara, Locke’s and the Tyrconnell brands, the only producer of single malt whiskey in Ireland. Since being bought out by Diageo in 2005, Bushmills has enjoyed huge investment and is a distillery definitely On The Up.

Greenore is a small town in Ireland, and the Greenore range of Irish whiskeys is made in the nearby Cooley distillery. It is an Irish single grain, and Greenore is made of 100% corn (with a small amount of malted barley to aid fermentation). It is aged in first fill ex-bourbon casks at the 200-year-old warehouses at the Locke's distillery at Kilbeggan in County Westmeath. Greenore was first released in 2005 and there are now also 15 and 18 year old expressions. .

This was originally the flagship whiskey at the Watts distillery in County Derry and was the one of the biggest selling Irish whiskeys in the U.S. prior to prohibition. The Tyrconnell was originally a racehorse that won the prestigious National Produce Stakes in 1876, despite odds of 100-1. This remarkable achievement led to the commemorative Tyrconnell label which survived until the distillery closed in 1925. In 1988, Cooley acquired the brand and brought it back from the dead.

The Whisky Tasting Club has selected the no age statement expression for this tasting and you will rarely taste a crisper whiskey. Bursting with clean citrus fruits, this is the perfect whiskey to usher in the spring.

Redbreast is a pure potstill whisky made by Jamesons at their Midleton distillery near Cork. A pure potstill whiskey is defined as one that is made from a mash of malted and unmalted barley and is distilled in a potstill (i.e. in batches, as opposed to in a continuous distillation process used for whiskeys like Jamesons). So the production process is the same as a Scottish single malt, except for the fact that they use a mixture of 40% malted and 60% unmalted barley in the mash.

This has an intense and more savoury aspect to it, and there are sour apples among the sweet ones.

Irish whiskey isn’t usually known for its high levels of peat, but in the 18th and 19th centuries such whiskey was produced in Connemara, a region with the copious amounts of peat on its doorstep. Unfortunately, this style of whiskey disappeared. Happily, thanks to the award-winning Cooley distillery, it’s back.

Although Irish whiskey is usually triple distilled to produce a lighter spirit, Connemara whiskey is double distilled in the Scottish tradition. We have chosen The Turf Mór (‘big peat’ in Gaelic), which is part of Connemara’s “Small Batch Collection” and is said to be the most heavily-peated Irish whiskey ever; it is certainly one of the finest peated whiskeys available anywhere.

Like watching the Irish rugby team catch the ball from the kick off, run it wide and score in the corner in the first few seconds. It’s in your face immediately. The smoke is all burning steam engine oil, but it’s countered by lemon and lime syrup, and there is a hint of spearmint toffee. It shouts ‘come on in, it’s lovely.’

This is the metaphorical whisk(e)y bridge between Islay and Ireland. The oily industrial smoke is offset by an Irish one-two of rich fresh green fruit and delightfully spritely barley. There’s no real winner, and some time through the battle the two sides make friends and cosy up to you.