Teeling Whiskey has brought out ‘Spirit of Dublin’, a new premium Irish Poitín. “Poitín is at the heart of all true Irish spirits and will be the base for future whiskey releases from our new distillery.
This ‘Spirit of Dublin’ bottling gives people a sneak peek at what our new distillery is producing as well as showcasing a modern version of our unique and traditional white Irish spirit,” Jack Teeling, owner of Teeling’s commented on their official site.
Poitín is a traditional Irish spirit made from cereals, grain, whey, sugar beet, molasses and potatoes. It was originally boiled (distilled) in a pot, hence the name potcheen. It has an alcohol content of about 40%-90% strength.
Poitín was once a banned substance for those reasons (after a bottle you would definitely have had some experience with alcohol poisoning, if you could manage to wake up) and distillers would brew the strong stuff out in the bundus so that the authorities would not catch a wiff of the smoke.
Poitín used to be distilled in the same way as Single Malt Whiskey. Nowadays Poitín is not an illegal substance anymore. In 2008 it was accorded geographical Indicative Status by the EU Council and Parliament.
Teelings is using a traditional Dublin Pot Still recipe of unmalted Irish barley for this edition of triple distilled ‘Spirit of Dublin’ Poitín. It has a sweet taste and can be enjoyed with just water (it has a 52.5% strength, so you might want a mixer) or in a cocktail.