Midleton in County Cork is Ireland’s largest distillery. It was founded in 1825 by brothers James, Daniel and Jeremiah Murphy. In 1966, the groups Jameson, Powers, and Cork Distillers merged to form Irish Distillers. In 1975, the Powers and Jameson distilleries were closed and a new distillery opened next to Midleton to centralize and optimize production for the various brands. The old distillery then closed and Midleton became the only distillery in Ireland until Cooley opened two years later. The focus then turned to the Jameson blend, to the detriment of the single pot stills that have gradually come back into fashion in recent years.

The first edition in Midleton’’s Dair Ghaelach Knockrath Forest range. This is a single pot still whiskey matured first in bourbon casks then in virgin Irish oak hogsheads. The oak was sourced from the Knockrath forest and each cask can be traced back to a 130-year-old tree in the forest. This bottling is from Tree 1.