Thursday night I went to J. Murphy's Irish Pub & Grille for a Taste of Ireland. Shawn Peterson from Glazers Distributing and Douglas Lawson, J. Murphy's chef, presented spirits and foods from Ireland.
Shawn talked about and presented 6 Irish whiskeys - Jameson, 12 year old Jameson (my favorite), Michael Collins, Powers, Clontarff. and Red Breast, plus 3 beers - Harp, Guiness, and Murphy's Stout (my favorite) and Doug presented samples of Sheperd's Pie, Guiness Stew, and Irish bangers.
Key regulations defining Irish Whiskey are:
1. must be distilled and aged in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland
2. the contained spirit must be distilled to an alcohol by volume level of less tham 94.8% from a yeast fermented mash of cereal grain
3. the product must be aged for at least 3 years in wooden casks
4. if the spirits comprise a blend of 2 or more such distillates, the product must referred to as "blended" Irish whiskey
