Green Spot (whiskey)

For the soft drink of the same name, see Green Spot (soft drink).

Green Spot

Type	Irish whiskey
Manufacturer	Irish Distillers (Pernod Ricard)
Country of origin	Ireland
Introduced	Circa 1920: Bonded Merchant
Discontinued	Blue Spot, Yellow Spot, Red Spot
Proof (US)	80
Related products	Redbreast Pot Still

Green Spot is a single pot still Irish whiskey, produced specifically for Mitchell & Son of Dublin, by Irish Distillers at the Midleton Distillery, Cork, Ireland. It is one of the few remaining bonded Irish whiskeys, and is currently the only brand specifically produced for and sold by an independent wine merchant in Ireland.

Green Spot was described by whiskey writer Jim Murray as "unquestionably one of the world's great whiskeys."

History

Mitchell & Son wine merchants were established in 1805; however, it is uncertain exactly when Green Spot was first produced. It is known though, that by the 1920s Jameson's Bow Street Distillery was supplying Mitchell & Son with at least 100 sherry hogsheads of pot still distilled whiskey per annum.

Half of the casks used had previously held oloroso and other darker sherries, while the other half had held lighter finos. This was to prevent the wine from overpowering the whiskey. The whiskey was allowed to mature in the casks for five years, before being vatted and allowed to blend and mature for a further five years. It was then bottled and sold as a ten-year-old.

The blend was originally known as "Pat whiskey", and the labels carried the logo of a man on a green background.

The Mitchells sold a range of whiskeys under their ‘Spot’ brand name. This name originated from their practice of marking casks of different ages with a daub or spot of coloured paint. There was a Blue Spot, Red Spot and even a Yellow Spot, but Green Spot emerged as their most popular whiskey and is one of the few “whiskey bonder brands” to survive to modern day.

When Jameson moved production from Bow St. to Midleton, the make up of the whiskey altered for the first time in living memory. This, coupled with low stocks of maturing whiskey, led Mitchell & Son into an agreement with Irish Distillers whereby the whiskey would be matured by the distillery in their own casks, with Mitchell & Sons having sole rights to market, sell and develop the whiskey.

Current day production

The current Green Spot is slightly younger than the original. It is a blend of 8-9 year old single pot still whiskey, 25% of which has matured in sherry casks.

500 cases (approximately 6000 bottles) are produced each year. Most of this is sold through Mitchell and Son's shop in Dublin. As a result, it is difficult to obtain outside Ireland, except in specialist retailers.

Single pot still whiskey

Green Spot is one of the few single pot still whiskey brands produced today (along with Irish Distillers' Redbreast and Yellow Spot). Note that all single malts are also purely from a pot still, but single pot still whiskeys use partially unmalted barley, so they cannot be technically called a single malt. Also, single malt whiskeys were generally distilled twice, whereas single pot still whiskeys were generally distilled three times.

Yellow Spot

Mitchell & Son have announced the re-introduction of Yellow Spot Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey. The original Yellow Spot was last bottled in the 1950s. Yellow Spot contains single pot still whiskey that has been matured for 12 years in three oak cask types:

• American bourbon barrels,
• Spanish sherry butts and
• Spanish Malaga casks.

It is set to be produced annually in batches of just 500 cases, the same production level as Green Spot. Yellow Spot is bottled at 46% ABV. Most Irish whiskeys (including Green Spot) are bottled at 40% ABV.

See also

• Irish whiskey

External links

• Mitchell & Son