The Old Midleton Distillery
A Little History
The Old Midleton Distillery ceased production in 1975 after 150yrs of producing Irish Whiskey, when a new distilling complex was built on adjacent site. The Old Distillery in Midelton, County Cork was founded by the Murphy brothers, and in 1867 they joined with four Cork City distilleries to form teh "Cork Distillers Company". Today the original distillery, carefully and lovingly restored, is the only Self-contained 18th Century industrial complex of it's kind anywher in Ireland or Britain. The Old Midelton Distillery comprises of 11acres of land and is both architecturally and historically unique. All of the major buildings have been refurbished extensively back to their former glory.
Stage 1:The main ingredients in Irish Whiskey are; barley, malt and water. Malt is simply sprouted or germinated barley which will be touched on later.
Stage 2:The Distillery purchased all the barley required for the distilling period at autumn time, after harvest. The courtyard area would have been the main centre for activity at this time as this is wher the farmesr brought their barley to sell to the distilery. The main method of transport at the time was horse and cart, and so the farmers would arrive here with their carts piled high with sacks of barley to sell. The sacks were weighed an dthe farmers recieved vouchers for payment. More than half of the buildings on the site were used to store the barley.
Stage 3:Barley was brought to the Maltings where it was soaked in water and allowed to sprout in spring-like condtions for about four days. The grain was then dried out in the kiln using anthracite, a smokless feul. This kiln is wher the barley was dried, prior to being stored in the gigantic grain stores. This is wher we see one of the main differences between Scotch and Irish Whiskey. In Ireland we dry all our grain away from the direct heat, wheras our neighbours in scotland blow peat smoke through the grain, giving Scotch Whisky that smokey peat taste which is deliberately absent in Irish Whiskey.
Stage 4:The waterwheel which dates back to 1852 and measures 6.7metres in diameter was used to drive five sets of millstones. These giants were employed to grind the malt and the barley ind a flour like product called grist.
Stage 5:Mashing: Once the barley and malt had been ground in the mill it was ready for the next stage - mashing. During Mashing the barley and the malt were sent to large containers known as Mash Tuns. Boiling water was added and the mixture was stirred up with giant rotating rakes, the starches in the grains are turned into fermentable sugars. The resulting liquid, known as 'Worts' was then sent to the Washbacks for fermentation.
Stage 6:Fermentation: Yeast was added and the sugars in the worts were converted to alcohol, a rocess that took about three days. the liquid was now known as Wash and contained approx 8% alcohol by volume (16° proof) and was ready for the real heart of whiskey making; distilling.
Stage 7:This is the largest Pot-Still in the world, it has the capacity of 32,000 gallons. It dates back to 1825 and is made of copper.
Wash was fed into the first still, the Wash Still, and the fires underneath were lit. THe main principle of distillation is that alcohol boils at a lower temerature than water, it boils at 78°C (170°F). As the Wash starts to boil the first vapours to be given off were alcohol vapours and these were collected. They were condensed back into a liquid ready for further distillation. Irish whiskey is unique because it is distilled three times. The resulting spirit is very pure and contains about 80% alcohol by volume (160° proof).
Stage 8:After triple distillation the spirit is virtually colorless and odourless and does not become whiskey until it has spent many years maturing in oak barrels. The barrels are imprted from Portugal, Spain and America wher they were used to mature sherry, port or bourbon previously. These different products give different characteristics to the whiskeys as they mature. The alcoholcontent was reduced to 63%ABV (126° proof) with de-ionised water and the spirit put into it's particular barrel.
Stage 9:Storage: The casks were stored in dark, aromatic wharehouses and allowed to mature for 5-7 years for standard brands (although Irish law only insists on three years). During maturation the whiskey developsinto a rich golden colour as a result of tanin in the oak. Two of the most exclusive Jameson Whiskeys are Midelton Very rare and Distillery Reserve as they lie in the oak casks for a minimum of 12 years.
Stage 10:Bottling: Before it could be bottled the whiskey was emptied into a large vat and allowed to marry for a time. The whiskey is a gain watered down to 40%ABv (80° proof) ready for consumption. The whiskey has never been bottled in Midelton. It is sent to Cork City, Dublin or Bushmills for bottling and distribution. All our whiskeys are still made in the new complex in Midelton with the exception of Bushmills which is still made at it's original site in Co. Antrim home of the worlds oldest distillery, licensed since 1608.