Midleton Irish Whiskey

MidletonIrish Whiskey

The Old Midleton distillery was part of the Cork Distillery Company, which merged with John Power & Son and John Jameson & Son in 1966 to form Irish Distillers.

The new company was joined in 1972 by Bushmills, a situation which created a monopoly on the production of Irish whiskey. The Old Midleton boasted the world's largest potstill, with a capacity of over 31,500 gallons.

The new Midleton is an enormous modern distillery in County Cork built by Irish Distillers in 1975to streamline the production of its many brands. The transfer of production between the distilleries was seamless: the distillery workers left the Old Midleton distillery in the evening and started at the new complex the following morning.

This brought an end to nearly 200 years of Jameson production in Dublin, but the Old Jameson Distillery in Bow Street is now a visitor's centre. Tourists can also visit the Midleton complex, which is home to many other brands beside Jameson, including Green Spot, Paddy, Power's and Redbreast.

The Midleton distillery's flagship brand is Midleton Very Rare, which is a small batch blend released annually.

About Midleton VR, from the website:

‘This has eclipsed and redefined the perception of Irish Whiskey..Astonishing.’ Peter Mulryan, Whiskey Critic

Midleton Very Rare, a magnificent blend of the finest distillates hand-picked by the Master Distiller, Barry Crockett, is one of Ireland’s most exclusive whiskeys. Whiskeys from the old Midleton distillery have always been acknowledged as special. Thus, this top Irish whiskey takes its name from the east Cork distillery town. This whiskey is aged between 12 and 25 years, and is matured exclusively in seasoned Bourbon barrels. Midleton Very Rare was launched in 1984 to celebrate the whiskeys of the Midleton distillery, and a new vintage has been released every year since then. Each bottle carries its own individual number and the signature of our Master Distiller. This annual release of a new vintage is a departure for the whiskeys of Irish Distillers where consistency from year to year is highly valued. The individual nature of the selection process for each vintage of Midleton Very Rare means that each year’s vintage provides its own character. Prized among collectors, we know of very few collections of all vintages since the first in 1984.