There was a time when there were only two distilleries in Ireland; they were, for a while, owned by the same company. Then this small distillery opens up, staunchly independent, and starts doing things unheard of in Ireland. Instead of making traditional Irish whiskey (triple-distilled, non-smoky, and with a pot still whiskey component), they started making very scotch-like whiskey (double distilled, single malt, and sometimes very smoky). Nearly twenty years later, they’re still making Irish whiskey, and they’re still doing it their way. Made by Cooly Distillery, Winner of the 2010 Malt Advocate Distillery of the Year (beating out all the Scottish and American ones!!)