Celebrating our past with the great Irish poitín revival

“There’s such a great industry evolving right now,” says Dave Mulligan of Dublin’s stellar cocktail bar Bar 1661, which is spearheading the campaign to reintroduce poitín to bar shelves and spirit drinkers around the country and the world. “We’ve never been in a more exciting time, to see a national spirit emerge and small indie producers doing it for the love.”

Dismissed as dangerous moonshine made by unskilled home distillers, poitín was banned in 1661 and remained illegal for 336 years until it was decriminalised in 1997. Of course, the ban was not about the risk of going blind but rather a tax control measure. Whiskey evolved as the officially sanctioned spirit, carefully controlled by the powers that be, and stored under bond in wooden casks for three years and a day, when it could be taxed before being sold.

Poitín, conversely, is generally not cask-aged (with the exception of a few versions that are rested for up to 10 weeks in barrels for a very light cask influence), but is influenced more directly by the small copper pot stills (poteens, or poitíns) it is distilled in, and by the mash bill (recipe ingredients and ratio) used. It is generally barley based, usually malted, but mash bills can also include anything from potato to oats to rye.

Many of today’s recommendations make great sipping spirits, at home or in a bar like Bar 1661, where they serve flights of poitín with tasting notes from their 27-strong collection.

Straight spirits or booze-forward drinks are not for everyone, however. If you don’t already drink martinis or neat whiskeys, Mulligan recommends starting with a mixed drink, whether his Belfast Coffee (think Irish coffee meets Espresso Martini, served cold with a cream float and dusting of nutmeg) or another poitín cocktail, or a pre-mixed drink. Mulligan’s Little & Green brand of ready-to-drink poitín-based cans (littleandgreen.ie, €21 for six) come in Shady Bramble and Sneaky Orchard flavours, and are perfect for bringing to parties and festivals.

“A lot of people fought for the right to produce poitín, so it is culturally important as well as uniquely Irish,” Mulligan says. “We can see the future and we can see the past, and there’s a collective of Irish people helping thousands of years of history to flourish in front of our eyes.”​

Drinks of the week

Blackwater Irish Poitín Malt na Mara, 50pc, €25 (20cl) If you’d like to get your head around the potential complexity of poitín, this release from Blackwater is a great place to start, with its accessible price, back-pocket-sized bottle and exact mash bill explained on the label (recipe ingredients and ratios, which include kelp-steeped malt and turf-malted oats). Complex and layered, it balances sweet and creamy pineapple and malty, biscuity notes with umami character (think peat and iodine). It finishes quite saline, crisp and briny with a crunchy vegetal. Good independents, including Celtic Whiskey Shop, irishdrinkshop.ie, blackwaterdistillery.ie

Mad March Hare Poitín, 40pc, €37.50 (70cl) Distilled in copper pot stills for a robust flavour and texture, with aromas of roasted chicory root, coffee and cacoa bean, broad and punchy on the palate but with a sweet, slightly chocolatey finish. This is the partner poitín for Bar 1661, where it uses it in its signature Belfast Coffee. Celtic Whiskey Shop, The Wine Centre, Molloy’s, wineonline.ie, shopmadmarchhare.com

Micil Poitín, 44pc, €34.50 (50cl) Galway-made by the sixth generation of proud poitín makers, based on 100pc malted barley with Connemara bogbean, as per family tradition, which brings a honeyed, tropical fruit flavour, this works very well in place of tequila in bright mixed drinks such as a grapefruit-based paloma. Good independents, including Celtic Whiskey Shop, DrinkStore, Sweeney’s D3, irishdrinkshop.ie, micildistillery.ie

Bán Poitín, 44.5pc, €55 (70cl) Made at Echlinville Distillery in the Ards Peninsula, to the specs of Dave Mulligan of Dublin’s Bar 1661,this is distilled in a traditional style from potato, malted barley and sugar beet. The result is a little vegetal but sweet too, with notes of roast pineapple and sweet corn and a spicy heat. Celtic Whiskey Shop, irishmalts.com, irishdrinkshop.ie, echlinville.com

Killowen Pangur, 47pc, €47 (70cl) Blending poitín distilled in a direct fire-flamed copper pot still in a tiny craft Mourne Mountains distillery with new-make spirit from a large distillery just across the lough, and rested before bottling in PX sherry casks, this fragrant and aromatic poitín has exotic fruit notes, punchy heat with complexity undertones and a subtle peaty smoky finish. Celtic Whiskey Shop; celticwhiskeyshop.ie