Distillation

Midleton today runs three copper pot stills, each with a capacity of 75,000 litres. They're the largest pot stills operating anywhere in the world. Alongside them run three column stills, which distil a lighter grain whiskey from maize. Together, both lines make up Jameson. The pot stills alone produce the Single Pot Still that Midleton is famous for.

Distillation happens three times here, one more run than in most Scottish distilleries. The first run roughly separates alcohol from water, the second concentrates it further. The third refines the spirit so finely that the result is an especially smooth whiskey, though by no means one lacking character. This third round is what earned many Irish whiskeys their reputation as an easy entry point into the spirit.

Not every distillery in the south follows this pattern. Waterford focuses on pure single malt, distilled in classic pot stills, but without Midleton's malted-unmalted blend. Here, diversity comes through the barley variety and the farm, not the number of distillations.

The smaller houses add to the diversity too. Blackwater Distillery in Cappoquin distils gin, poitín and whiskey in small copper stills on the riverbank. In Clonakilty, a young distillery by the harbour makes both Single Pot Still and single malt. Between Midleton's giant stills and these smaller operations lies the full range of what distilling means in the south today. Both paths lead to the same destination: good whiskey.