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You know your Jameson, your Bushmills and your Tullamore D.E.W. and you’ve explored Redbreast, Teeling and the Spots Green, Yellow, Blue and Red. Where to go next?
Here are a few other Irish whiskeys I’ve sampled over the course of the past year or so that will bring a smile to your face this St. Patrick’s Day season.
Drumshanbo Tawny Port Cask Single Pot Still Whiskey
This triple-distilled single pot still whiskey from The Shed Distillery in County Leitrim is made with malted and unmalted Irish barley, and Irish Barra oats and then aged seven years in Tawny Port casks.
This 86 proof gem is not a mixer. Enjoy it neat to best appreciate the complexity of its flavors, from candied fruit and almonds to toffee and the richness of its mouthfeel.
The Muff
Like Drumshambo, The Muff Liquor Company in County Donegal is known for its gin and vodka, but also makes Irish whiskey, of course.
The Muff’s 86 proof dram is blend of five malt and grain whiskeys, included peated, triple-distilled (it is Irish whiskey, after all) and aged in ex-bourbon barrels to create a layered flavor profile that ranges from peat smoke to dried banana to orange peel and toffee.
Clonakilty Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey
Another Irish distillery that has gin and vodka offerings, Clonakilty, located in the eponymous town in County Cork, has launched its first single pot still whiskey at 92 proof.
This one has a mashbill of barley grown on an oceanfront farm and thus touched by salty sea mist that’s triple-distilled after an extended, 100-hour fermentation.
It’s then aged in a mix of 60 percent 4-year-old aged in ex-bourbon barrels and 40 percent 5-year-old whiskey matured in Amontillado and Oloroso sherry casks, lending vanilla and wood spice to its pear and apple flavors with a hint of orange peel.
McConnell’s Sherry Cask Finish Irish Whisky
Note the Scottish spelling of whisky on this 92 proof dram, which comes from the re-born (after 90 years!) McConnell’s in Belfast in Northern Ireland.
McConnell’s Sherry Cask Finish is aged five years in ex-bourbon barrels and finished in Oloroso Sherry casks, adding hints of dried figs and chocolate to vanilla and wood spice.
I really enjoyed the chewy body and the richness of the sherry influence, but if sweet fruitiness isn’t to your liking, this might feel like too much for you.
Keeper's Heart 10-Year-Old Irish Single Malt
This Irish whiskey comes from Minnesota ... wait, what? Well, only sort of, of course, because Irish whiskey has to come from Ireland. Keeper’s Heart is made at the stunning O'Shaugnnessy Distillery located next to Surly Brewing in Minneapolis’ Prospect Park neighborhood and produces bourbon and other whiskeys on-site with a top distillery from Ireland.
However, it also sources Irish whiskey from Great Northern Distillery in County Louth. Some of that gets mixed into Keeper’s Heart Irish + Bourbon, but when you’ve got some ace 10-year-old single malt aged in bourbon barrels and finished in Malaga wine casks, you don’t mix it with anything, do you?
All that fruitiness, toasted oak spice and rich honey sweetness is right here in this recent Gold Medal-winner at 2025 World Whiskeys Awards Ireland.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
