{"id":19849,"date":"2021-02-14T10:33:18","date_gmt":"2021-02-14T14:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=19849"},"modified":"2021-05-02T10:24:57","modified_gmt":"2021-05-02T14:24:57","slug":"historian-brings-century-old-whiskey-recipes-back-to-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=19849","title":{"rendered":"Historian Brings Century-Old Whiskey Recipes Back To Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Leading whiskey historian Fionnan O’Connor samples one of the newly-distilled mashbills he discovered during his thesis on the lost recipes (Boann Distillery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>A collection of long-lost Irish whiskey recipes unearthed by a historian have been brought back to life for the first time in almost a century.<\/p>\n

The first casks have been produced, some made using ingredients \u2013 or mashbills \u2013 which date back to the 1800s.<\/p>\n

The recipes were unearthed and brought back to life by leading whiskey historian Fionnan O\u2019Connor, who wrote a thesis on the lost distilling process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re talking to ghosts by distilling these mashbills again,\u201d said the Dubliner, 32, who plans an industry-wide sensory analysis of the reborn spirits.<\/p>\n

Co Meath\u2019s Boann Distillery, on the outskirts of Drogheda, took on the mammoth task of bringing the vintage mashbills back into circulation through its pot stills.<\/p>\n

Only 144 casks are being made available to the public.<\/p>\n

It reintroduces the art of creating whiskey using malted barley, oats, wheat and rye, leading to a \u201ctug-of-war\u201d between flavors depending on the varying grain percentages used.<\/p>\n

The spirit is transferred into 200-250 liter bourbon, rum, NEOC (French red wine barrels) and sherry casks, and matured for a minimum of five years in specialist warehousing.<\/p>\n

Mr O\u2019Connor said: \u201cThe mashbills chosen are creating a map, a language about how all these things might have worked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was the reason for creating a mashbill? What was going through their heads when they were putting them together?<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of things you can do to whiskey to influence the taste. The bulk of these mashbills haven\u2019t been tasted in over 70 years and the earliest ones I\u2019ve found come from the early 1800s.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be a shame if all that history and those flavors were lost. This project has been about making up for lost time.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people know the story of Irish distilling\u2019s rise and collapse, but the story of the lost tastes and aromas, the knowledge that most of those whiskeys were different to ours, comes as news to most people.\u201d<\/p>\n

He first discovered the mashbills in archives in the Republic and Northern Ireland, and credits Boann\u2019s courage in bringing them back into production.<\/p>\n

The program will culminate in the coming months with a gathering of 30 leading figures in the Irish distilling industry for a sensory analysis tasting of the mashbills and their ranking over a number of different criteria.<\/p>\n

It will include experts from Ireland and Scotland and is in association with Heriot-Watt University\u2019s brewing and distilling program.<\/p>\n

Boann managing director Pat Cooney said his family, which employs 15 staff operating three huge copper pot stills, want to be seen as \u201cone of the most progressive distilleries in Ireland\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery mashbill tastes different, depending on whether there\u2019s more barley, less malt, more wheat, less rye,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The family is also in the process of building a visitor center, an online shop and launching Silks Irish Gin, named in honor of the local Bellewstown Races, running since 1726.<\/p>\n

Boann is producing samples of each different mashbill, with an arrangement that customers can book their cask by paying a deposit and choosing their cask after tasting the various mashbills.<\/p>\n

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