Best Irish Whisky

Bestwine • Online reveals its selection of Irish Whiskies served by chefs and sommeliers from starred gastronomic restaurants all over the world. The greatest brands of whisky are served at the most reputed tables of “haute cuisine” and Irish Whisky’s reputation in starred gastronomic restaurants is partly due to the fact that Ireland could be the country where Whisky originated. Ireland undoubtedly produces excellent Whisky. So, browse our suggestions of solid value Irish Whiskies with the certitude of buying and tasting the best.

Best Irish Whiskies

With Bestwine • Online, the best reference list of Irish Whiskies:

• Find one of the best Irish Whiskies.
• Offer an exceptional bottle of Irish Whiskies.
• Enrich your bar or wine cellar with a prestigious Irish Whiskies.
• Discover the starred gastronomic restaurants where drink the best Irish Whiskies.
• Benefit from gastronomic professionnal’s advices to select your Irish Whiskies brand or bottle.

Best Irish Whisky’s Brands

Refer to Chief’s, Sommelier’s, Bartender’s from gastronomic restaurants of all around the world‘s opinion to discover the best Irish Whisky’s brands and best references. A ranking and comparative of the best Irish Whisky’s brands by the Chief’s, Sommelier’s and Bartender’s from the top gastronomic experts.

Irish Whisky Brand	Origin	Vintage	Type	Alcohol Degree	Restaurant
The Irishman – Founder’s Reserve	Ireland	No	Blended	40°	⭐⭐⭐ – Yannick Alleno – France
The Irishman	Ireland	12 years	Single malt	43°	⭐⭐⭐ – Yannick Alleno – France
Redbreast	Ireland	12 years	–	–	⭐⭐⭐ – Odette – Singapore
Redbreast	Ireland	15 years	–	46°	⭐⭐⭐ – Core by Clare Smith – United Kingdom
Unknown – The Auld Alliance	Ireland	27 years	–	–	⭐⭐⭐ – Odette – Singapore
Jameson	Ireland	–	–	40°	⭐⭐⭐ – Core by Clare Smith – United Kingdom ⭐⭐⭐ – Beaumanière – France ⭐⭐⭐ – The Dorchester – United Kingdom
Bushmills – Black Bush	Ireland	–	–	40°	⭐⭐⭐ – Core by Clare Smith – United Kingdom
Bushmills	Ireland	10 years	–	40°	⭐⭐⭐ – The Dorchester – United Kingdom
Midleton – Very Rare	Ireland	2017	–	40°	⭐⭐⭐ – Core by Clare Smith – United Kingdom
Green Spot Léoville Barton Bordeaux Finish	Ireland	–	–	46°	⭐⭐⭐ – Core by Clare Smith – United Kingdom
Natterjack	Ireland	–	–	40°	⭐⭐⭐ – Core by Clare Smith – United Kingdom
Connemara Peated	Ireland	–	–	40°	⭐⭐⭐ – Core by Clare Smith – United Kingdom ⭐⭐⭐ – Beaumanière – France

The best Irish Whiskies according to chefs and sommeliers from starred gastronomic restaurants

Bestwine • Online is an online wine list, which allows amateurs of wines and spirits to find and buy bottles served in starred gastronomic restaurants.

Since 2021, we reference all the bottles and brands of Irish Whisky selected by chefs and sommeliers from starred gastronomic restaurants. You can regularly find new references of Irish Whisky which are added according to the latest updates to the list.

Bestwine • Online’s website enables you to find all the references of Irish Whisky present on the wine list of starred gastronomic restaurants worldwide, so you can take advantage of the advice of the elite in high standard gastronomy to discover and choose an Irish Whisky.

In fact, chefs and sommeliers in starred gastronomic restaurants guarantee the excellency of their establishment. These professionals of good food and fine wine, regularly taste, compare and select new Irish Whisky references to incorporate on their wine menu. Over the years, chefs and sommeliers are able to offer to their customers the best in Irish Whisky. Moreover, it is their excellent choice of food and alcohol that allows gastronomic restaurants to be awarded a star.

With Bestwine • Online, you have access to the knowledge and experience of chefs and sommeliers of starred restaurants by discovering bottles of Irish Whisky referenced on their wine list. Our aim is to make your search easy. Consequently, you only have to choose one of the bottles of Irish Whiskies already selected by a chef or a sommelier. You can then freely consult this reference list of Irish Whiskies, which will rapidly guide you to an upmarket Irish Whisky.

Each Irish Whisky being unique, our aim is not to designate a brand or bottle of Irish Whisky as being the best. We would like to offer to the greatest number of internet users a reliable and impartial selection of Irish Whiskies recommended by legitimate and credible professionals.

Irish Whisky or Whiskey

It is the custom to call Whisky which comes from Ireland “Irish Whiskey”.

The letter e comes between k and y when you are looking for an Irish Whisky, so when you read the label on the bottle you are more likely to see the term Whiskey than Whisky. However, there is no legislation or label of origin which requires Irish Whiskey to be used as a denomination instead of Irish Whisky. Above all, the terms whisky or whiskey have the same composition and recipe. However, to be able to write Irish Whiskey on the label of the bottle, several criteria must be respected.

The term Whiskey is mainly used to differentiate all the brands of Irish Whiskies from the other whiskies in the world, notably Scotland. Moreover, several brands of Irish Whiskies have changed their label from Whisky to Whiskey over the years. It was in 1966 that the last brand of Irish Whisky, Irish Distillers Ltd, used the term Whisky before changing to the term Whiskey. Scotland and Ireland are rivals when it comes to Whisky, in fact both nations fight to claim the origins of Whisky.

Historically, neither of these nations can be recognised as being the mother nation of whisky. The term Whiskey is, therefore, a commercial term to signify the Irish origin of a Whisky.

The denomination Irish Whisky or Whiskey denotes beverages made in Ireland. Irish Whiskey has a Protected Geographical Indication (IGP) since 30^th October 2015, it also has an official act since 10^th December 1980, called the Irish Whiskey Act. All the Irish Whiskey references present in this list respect the Irish Whiskey Act and come from Ireland or Northern Ireland.

The production of Irish Whiskey has to conform to strict rules before the label Irish Whiskey can be put on the bottle and the Irish Whiskey Act respected. First of all, it must be distilled either in Ireland or Northern Ireland. Then, it has to be matured in wooden barrels and only in Ireland, or Northern Ireland. As for the Irish Whiskey recipe, each distillery has its own ingredients and doses. Finally, Irish Whiskey can be bottled outside of Ireland, in which case it must respect certain standards.

Irish Whiskey is a spirit elaborated by distilling cereal, mainly barley. It has as an alcohol content of about 40%.

There are 4 types of Irish Whiskey:

• Pure pot Still Irish Whiskey: this is a whisky made with barley and distilled in a pot still. This Pure Pot Still Whisky is a modern denomination of pot still whisky. Pure Pot Still whisky is similar to a single malt, but the cereal used to make the alcohol is a mixture of barley and malted barley (30% minimum of each one, plus up to 5% of another cereal.) The ratio between the barley and the malted barley can vary. Pure Pot Still Irish Whiskey was first made in 17^th Century. It has two varieties: Redbreast 12 and 15 years and Green Spot. Both are produced in Midleton in Ireland.
• Single Malt Whiskey: this is a whisky made in one distillery, hence its name. Single Malt Irish Whiskey is distilled exclusively with fermented malt cereal and either barley or rye. In Ireland only the brands of Whisky, Bushmills and Cooley produce Single Malt Whisky.
• Single Grain Whiskey: this whisky is made in a machine which continuously distils it. Grain whiskey has a much simpler flavour than malt whisky, which is distilled in a still with a much lower production rate. Single grain is, however, an important ingredient in blends. It appeared in the second half of the 19^th Century after Aeneas Coffey’s invention of the continuous distillation still (Column still or Coffey Still). Originally, the grain used was non malted barley, but it was gradually replaced by a mixture of cereals with a large ratio of corn, along with barley, malted barley (30% maximum) rye and wheat.
• Blended: this is a whisky made from a mixture of several whiskies from one or more Irish distilleries. It can contain whiskies from numerous vintages, made from more than one cereal (Single Malt or Pure Pot Still Whiskey) mixed with Grain Whiskey. Irish Blended Whiskey has a brand name which is not associated with a distillery, as it is a mixture. Most blends do not mention their age. When a blend has an age on the label, each of the malt and grain whiskies used in its composition must at least have this age.

The top of the range Irish Whisky’s selection

Authentic Irish Whisky’s comparison and ranking to choose