Redbreast is widely regarded as the foremost expression of Single Pot Still Irish whiskey — a style found nowhere else in the world, distilled from a mash of malted and unmalted barley in traditional copper pots. Its endurance is a story of tradition preserved against considerable odds.
A History of the Distillery
The Redbreast name emerged from a partnership dating to 1857 between the Jameson distillery in Dublin and the wine merchants W. & A. Gilbey, who bought new-make spirit and matured it in their own cellars in Dublin's Vaults district. The name itself was coined by the chairman of Gilbey, whose passion for ornithology drew him to the robin.
The closure of the original Jameson Bow Street distillery and the eventual concentration of Irish whiskey production at the new Midleton complex in County Cork in 1975 disrupted the supply chain, and Redbreast slipped out of production in the mid-1980s. It was revived in 1991 by Irish Distillers, using stock aged at Midleton, and has since become the flag-bearer of the pot still revival.
Production Process
The mash bill combines malted and unmalted barley, a formula devised in part as a response to 19th-century British tax reforms that levied duty on malted grain. Triple distillation in copper pot stills yields a spirit renowned for its silky, oily texture.
Maturation is a marriage of first-fill and refill American bourbon barrels with Oloroso sherry butts sourced from Jerez in southern Spain, aged for a minimum of twelve years in the maturation warehouses of Midleton.
In Ireland the pot still is not merely a vessel; it is an inheritance.
Historical Significance
Single Pot Still whiskey once dominated global whisky commerce. Its near-disappearance in the 20th century made its revival a matter of cultural preservation as much as commerce. Redbreast is, more than any other bottling, the standard-bearer of that revival.
Distillery Curiosities
- ◆The robin depicted on the label was chosen for its association with Irish gardens and folklore.
- ◆Production was suspended entirely in the 1980s before being restored in 1991, one of the earliest signs of the modern Irish whiskey renaissance.