The best St. Patrick’s Day Irish whiskey is here, and it's all the gold you’ll need for a delicious celebration.
If you’re a whiskey drinker of any stripe, chances are good you’re planning to enjoy a drop of the Irish on March 17. That could mean shots of Jame-O or a splash of Proper No. Twelve in your coffee, but you can do better than that. We put together a roundup of the best St. Patrick’s Day whiskey of 2023.
Ireland’s whiskey industry is booming, and many of the year’s new releases come out around this time, just before Saint Paddy’s Day.
There’s a huge variety of single malts, blends, and grain whiskeys pouring out of the Emerald Isle, as delicious, complex, and high quality as their peers from Scotland or the United States. (Though if you’re dead-set on drinking bourbon, even on Ireland’s national holiday, Kentucky Owl just released a bourbon co-created by Ireland-based blender Louise McGuane—making it Irish-ish.)
No need to follow a leprechaun to the rainbow’s end. All the gold you’ll need for a delicious Saint Pat’s celebration can be found in these bottles. Let us introduce you to the best St. Patrick’s Day whiskey of 2023.
1. Powers Irish Rye
Rye isn’t just for North America anymore. Distillers the world over have embraced the grain, Ireland among them. The country has a history of using rye in its whiskey recipes, although few have been made since the 19th century. Kilbeggan released a whiskey made partly with rye a few years ago, and now Powers has debuted this 100 percent rye offering. Triple distilled and bottled at 43.2 percent ABV, it’s not going to taste like Kentucky rye—but with the Powers reputation behind it, it’s sure to taste great.
[$32; powerswhiskey.com]
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2. Bushmills 25- and 30-Year-Old
You’d expect Ireland’s oldest licensed distillery to have deep stocks of very aged whiskey, and you’d be right. No one’s bench is deeper than Bushmills’, and these two new releases, coming in as part of the brand’s permanent lineup, prove that. The 25-year-old spends six years in bourbon and sherry casks, then goes into ruby port pipes for 21 years. (If you notice that’s a bit older than 25, consider the extra age a bonus.) Bushmills 30-year-old does a 14-year stint in bourbon and sherry casks, then finishes its maturation with 16 years in PX sherry. Both whiskies are 46 percent ABV and non-chill filtered, meaning they retain more body and flavor than they otherwise would.
[$900-$2,200; bushmills.com]
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3. Redbreast Kentucky Oak
Single pot still standby Redbreast has taken pains in recent years to secure supplies of high-quality casks. Redbreast Lustau Edition sees the Irish brand partner with Spain’s Bodegas Lustau to season custom-made casks with its oloroso sherry. Now, the latest release brings new American oak into play, with wood that's been sustainably sourced from Elk Cave Farm in Kentucky, then air dried and made into barrels used to finish a special batch of Redbreast. The resulting whiskey boasts elevated spice and vanilla flavors, amped up by a bottling proof of 50.5 percent ABV.
[$96; redbreastwhiskey.com]
4. Writers’ Tears Single Pot Still
The core Writers’ Tears blend includes single pot still whiskey as part of its recipe, so adding a new brand sibling of that style alone makes perfect sense. Part of the Walsh Whiskey portfolio, Writers’ Tears Single Pot Still is made with a combination of malted and unmalted barley and triple distilled. It undergoes a primary maturation in bourbon barrels, followed by two secondary finishes: PX sherry and Florio marsala. Bottled at 46 percent ABV, there are 3,000 bottles available in the U.S. in 2023.
[$80; walshwhiskey.com]
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5. Northcross Triple Wood
Great Northern Distillery makes a great many Irish whiskeys, including this new blend of malt and grain. The name nods to its maturation program in three types of cask: bourbon, oloroso sherry, and virgin American oak. Northcross Triple Wood is non-chill filtered with a bottling proof of 43 percent ABV.
[$25; northcrosswhiskey.com]
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6. Method and Madness Rye and Malt
Ireland’s largest distiller, Midleton, also encompasses one of its smallest: Micro-Distillery, where experimental techniques and recipes are tried out. The Method and Madness line gives drinkers a chance to taste some of these innovations, including the latest, a triple-distilled whiskey made from 60 percent rye and 40 percent malted barley. Although the U.S. market doesn’t receive every Method and Madness release, in the case of Rye and Malt, we’re getting 5,000 bottles.
[$80; methodandmadnesswhiskey.com]
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7. Waterford Peated
Though still a newcomer on the Irish whiskey scene, Waterford has already made a name for itself with its emphasis on terroir and other agriculturally minded priorities. That continues with the brand’s latest releases, Fenniscourt and Ballybannon, both made with Irish-grown barley malted over Irish peat—a true rarity. Though other peated Irish whiskeys have been available before now, they overwhelmingly use peated malt sourced from Scotland. There are other craft distillers making whiskey with Irish peat as well, but Waterford was the first to bring its mature product to market.
[$100; waterfordwhisky.com]
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8. Dingle Single Malt
Situated on the craggy Dingle Peninsula on Ireland’s West Coast, Dingle Distillery is actually run by a Scotsman: former Glen Moray master distiller Graham Coull. His expertise has helped the young distillery transition from scattershot early releases to a core single malt, now available in the U.S. Triple-distilled and aged in bourbon and PX sherry casks for at least six years, Dingle single malt is bottled at 46.3 percent ABV.
[$100; dingledistillery.ie]
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9. Teeling 32-Year-Old Purple Muscat Finish
Teeling Distillery, founded by Stephen and Jack Teeling, wasn’t open in 1990 when this whiskey was distilled—but Cooley, the distillery owned by their father, John, was. Likely no one predicted that this particular liquid, which initially matured in bourbon barrels, would go on to reach the age of 28 before being transferred to purple muscat casks from Setúbal, Portugal, for a four-year finish. But that’s what happened, and it resulted in a stunning, deeply complex whiskey that shows off extra-mature Irish single malt at its finest.
[$3,500; teelingwhiskey.com]
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10. Proper No. Twelve Irish Apple
While technically a flavored whiskey rather than a true Irish whiskey, Proper No. Twelve’s new line extension will probably make plenty of drinkers happy. A blend of malt and grain whiskies, it’s flavored with—you guessed it—apple. MMA fighter and brand co-founder Conor McGregor sold his stake in the company in 2021 but is still serving as a spokesperson. As with the core product, $5 from every case sold, up to $1 million, will be donated to first responder organizations.
[$25; properirishapple.com]
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11. Bushmills 12-Year-Old
Newly appointed Bushmills master blender Alex Thomas debuted this whiskey in February, adding it to the fabled single malt distillery’s lineup that also includes 10-, 16-, and 21-year-old expressions. Triple-distilled, it’s matured initially in ex-bourbon and sherry casks, then finished in marsala casks, which lend rich spice, caramel, and nutty flavors. Look for more exciting things to come from Thomas, whose first single malt creation, The Sexton, has quickly taken a top spot as one of the best-selling Irish whiskeys in the U.S.
[$60; bushmills.com]
12. Redbreast Pedro Ximénez Edition
Celebrating the links between the whiskey industry of Ireland and the winemakers of the Iberian Peninsula, the first limited-edition whiskey in Redbreast’s Iberian Series uses hogshead-size Pedro Ximénez casks for a 12- to 22-month finish. The smaller-than-usual hogsheads create more interaction between whiskey and wood, resulting in extra-rich and luscious flavors of raisins, orange zest, and toasted spices. If you’re a fan of Redbreast Lustau, taste it side by side with this new release to compare the differences between oloroso and PX sherry finishes, ideally showcased in the triple-distilled single pot still style.
[$96; redbreastwhiskey.com]
13. Waterford The Cuvée
The first whiskeys from Waterford showcased barleys grown on different farms, part of the distillery’s mission to highlight terroir. But they were just a taste of its flagship single malt, The Cuvée. The new whiskey brings together 25 single-farm distillates into a whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts, just as winemakers combine numerous wines into one final blend—creating, as Waterford calls it, “the ultimate single malt.”
[$95; waterfordwhisky.com]
14. Limavady
Launched as a sister brand to WhistlePig Whiskey, Limavady was created by Irish distilling veteran Darryl McNally in tribute to his hometown and family history of making whiskey. The brand currently focuses on single-barrel single malts, with its core expression sporting a Pedro Ximénez sherry finish. That flavor influence, plus its ABV of 46 percent, ensures a pleasant complexity while still retaining the signature easy-sipping style of a typical Irish whiskey.
[$55; limavady.com]
15. Glendalough 7-Year-Old Mizunara Cask
Mizunara oak is far more common in Japanese whisky, since that’s where the trees grow, but this is actually the second Glendalough single malt to take advantage of the wood’s aromatic spice and incense flavors. It follows 13- and 17-year-old iterations that were well-received a few years ago and, like those expressions, is available in limited amounts. Wrapped around the bottle’s neck is a “red thread of fate” that represents the link between the mountain forests of Wicklow, Glendalough’s home, and those of Hokkaido, the source of the mizunara oak.
[$100; glendalough.com]
16. Lost Irish
Co-founded by ex-Tullamore DEW ambassador Tim Herlihy, this blend combines Ireland’s three whiskey styles: single malt, single grain, and single pot still. As an homage to the millions of Irish expats and people of Irish descent who live outside of Ireland, the whiskeys were matured in casks from six continents: South African brandy, Australian tawny wine, American bourbon, Caribbean rum, Colombian rum, Spanish sherry, and Japanese mizunara oak. It’s as soft and smooth as any of its peers, but the complex recipe gives this whiskey added gravitas and makes it a better deal than most.
[$40; lostirish.com]
17. Egan’s Conviction
This blend of malt and grain whiskeys is aged for 10 years, then finished in XO cognac casks, which add an intense aromatic quality. Expect to find sweet notes of honey and marzipan juxtaposed with leather and licorice. Egan’s also just released the final whiskey in its Legacy Reserve series, an 18-year-old single malt finished in moscatel de Valencia casks priced at $200.
[$100; eganswhiskey.com]
18. Writer’s Tears Japanese Cask Finish
One of two mizunara oak-finished Irish whiskeys on this list, fans of single pot still whiskey will want to look for this one, which combines the classic Irish style with single malt as part of the standard Writers’ Tears blend. It was originally created to celebrate the 2019 Rugby World Cup, hosted by Japan, but returned recently with wider availability, though it’s still a limited edition. The mizunara finish adds sandalwood and coconut notes, and has a hefty bottling strength of 55 percent ABV.
[$120; walshwhiskey.com]
19. Slane Special Edition
Celebrating 40 years of rock shows at the famous Slane Castle, which is now home to the distillery as well, this whiskey builds on the brand’s original triple-cask release by amplifying its virgin oak-matured component. The resulting flavor is bold and brash, just like the music of Thin Lizzy, Guns N’ Roses, Foo Fighters, and U2, who have all played the Castle over the years. Sip some while listening to the custom Spotify playlist—available with the purchase of a bottle—curated by Slane Irish Whiskey co-founder Alex Conyngham.
[$37; slaneirishwhiskey.com]
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