Comments on: St Patrick Humbug

By: Grandad

Grandad — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 01:20:19 +0000

I can wait

By: JC Skinner

JC Skinner — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:07:54 +0000

Same place! They’re distilling there now, but what’s in your bottle was made at Cooley. The new Locke’s and Kilbeggan made on site won’t come on stream until 2014 or so.

By: Grandad

Grandad — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:44:54 +0000

I do beg your pardon JC. I have never tried it, I must admit though I have been in Locke’s Distillery many times. I am now the owner of a bottle!

By: JC Skinner

JC Skinner — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:20:25 +0000

Now, Grandad. If you read the section I wrote on Cooley (who own the Kilbeggan site) you’ll see that I did indeed mention that it’s been taken out of mothballs!
As I wrote, it’ll be at least another five years before even the youngest whiskey is produced there. Kilbeggan whiskey is being distilled at Cooley currently, and will be for the foreseeable.
And based on the hit-and-miss performances at Cooley, the results when Kilbeggan does become operational may be patchy. Primarily, though, I’m pleased that they’ve re-opened Kilbeggan.
On the other hand, if we’re reliant on the same two Americans to single-handedly resurrect our national drink industry, then we’re in pretty bad shape, aren’t we?

By: Grandad

Grandad — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 01:54:10 +0000

JC - You never mentioned Kilbeggan Whiskey. That distillery reopened recently.

By: JC Skinner

JC Skinner — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 01:17:27 +0000

I always opposed the ban. It’s the nanny state at its worst. But I was talking about the Irish whiskey industry in general, not specifically Bushmills, whose future does lie in the hands of a foreign conglomerate.
There are now only three distilleries left in a country which invented whiskey, a country which once boasted hundreds of great local distilleries and whiskies.
All three remaining are foreign owned. Two of them run by international conglomerates who could choose at any stage to shut them on a financial whim.
Japan has more distilleries than us these days! If people don’t rally round and start supporting the indigenous whiskey industry, soon it will be a thing of the past, like smoking in pubs.

By: Grandad

Grandad — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:29:05 +0000

RhodesTer - God help me if I ever get around to saying anything!!

By: RhodesTer

RhodesTer — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:35:54 +0000

19 comments to a guy who says nothing. I’d say you’re doing okay, even if a few of those are replies from you to the others.

By: Grandad

Grandad — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:00:56 +0000

Marlys - Everyone knows that Paddy’s Day is celebrated more in America than in Ireland. Here, they just get drunk!

Irish pubs are closing at the rate of about one a day. The official story here is that it is down to other factors, such as the price of drink [which never stopped anyone in the past] and clamping down on drink-driving. But is it a coincidence that the sharp decline in pub attendance started when the ban came in?

By: Marlys Styne

Marlys Styne — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:31:23 +0000

Nobody does St. Patrick’s Day like Chicago–they even dye the Chicago River green. I watched the parade on TV, and no green beer for me! By the way, is it true that a lot of Irish pubs are closing because of the smoking ban? Just wondering.