A little about Uisce Beatha
Some time back I asked "Is your whiskey kosher?" The question was prompted by a gifted bottle of Chivas Regal. Chivas is a blended scotch and possibly is aged in a wine cask; Chivas' PR people don't know and don't tell. For those who are strict, Chivas does not meet the kashrut test.
I happen to like Tennessee sour mash (all American non-flavored bourbons are kosher). I also like Irish whiskeys.
The problem with many - most? - is that, like scotch, they are blended in casks formerly used to age wine.
What's the problem with wine casks? During the aging process, the residue from the wine once aged in the cask leeches into the (scotch or Irish) whiskey, adding both color and flavor to the whiskey. This is a deliberate decision on the part of the distillers . Had the leeching been unplanned, the amount of wine residue would be allowable; however, this process was done with full knowledge of the distillery and that is the cause of debate among poskim: "Is it kosher or is it not?"
To its credit - and most assuredly its cash income - the Irish Republic (that's everything except Northern Ireland (see Infoplease.com map, below) apaprently decided that all Irish whiskey in the future must be "matured" (aged) in barrels that never contained wine. At lest that's what I've been told. By Irish law, whiskey must be aged at least 3 years; it may, of course, be aged longer.
For those ancients who flew to Europe on Lockheed Connies and had to stop at Shannon, the town and airport are located south of Ennis before crossing the River Shannon on the way to Limerick.
Digging around the WWW, I happily discovered that there are many Irish whiskey's aged in former American Bourbon barrels (casks). Among them, alphabetically, are
All whiskeys from Cooley Distilleries; these products include:
- Connemara
- Finnegan
- Greenmore
- Kilbeggan
- Lockes (a Killbeggan product)
- Tyrconnell
In addition to the Cooley/Killbeggan products, the following Irish whiskeys are listed by kosher certifying agencies as kosher (agency shown in parentheses):
- Bushmills except Green Label (JSOR)
- Jameson-Regular (CRC and JSOR)
- Kellan (Requires label)
- Middleton Very Rare (Star-K and CRC)
- Paddy (Star-K and CRC)
- Powers (Star-K and CRC)
- Tullamore Dew (Star-K)
By the barrel (cask)
The following is from the distillers' web sites.
Bushmills' plain ol' Bushmills doesn't offer a hint as to how it is "matured." The 10-year-old single malt (green label) is aged mostly in bourbon seasoned barrels while Black Bush, 16-year-old and 21-year-old single malt whiskeys are aged in Bourbon and sherry barrels.
According to the Jameson web site, "basic" Jameson, Jameson Black Barrel, and Rarest Vintage Reserve whiskeys are aged in Bourbon casks. Jameson 12-year-old Special Reserve and Gold Reserve are aged in Bourbon and sherry casks; 18-year-old Limited Reserve is aged in "American Bourbon barrels and European oak casks."
Kellan is, according to the Cocktail Enthusiast web site, "aged more than four years in used bourbon casks." It is a Cooley Distilleries product.
Middleton Very Rare is aged in Bourbon and sherry casks.
Paddy whiskeys are aged for up to 7 years in oak casks. The casks' history is not mentioned.
On the Powers page, the 12-year-old is matured in "carefully selected American oak barrels." Gold Label casks are not specified.
A video for Tullamore Dew states that its products are aged on "oak barrels." What those barrels may have previously contained is not specified.
Links to the kashrut agencies cited above are:
