Paddy is a brand of
blended Irish whiskey produced by
Irish Distillers, at the
Midleton distillery in
County Cork
County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...
, on behalf of
Sazerac
The Sazerac is a local variation of a cognac or whiskey cocktail originally from New Orleans, named for the ''Sazerac de Forge et Fils'' brand of cognac brandy that served as its original main ingredient. The drink is most traditionally a combi ...
, a privately held American company.
Irish Distillers owned the brand until its sale to Sazerac in 2016. As of 2016, Paddy is the fourth largest selling Irish whiskey in the World.
History
The
Cork Distilleries Company was founded in 1867 to merge four existing distilleries in
Cork city (the
North Mall
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' is ...
,
the Green,
Watercourse Road, and
Daly's) under the control of one group. A fifth distillery, the
Midleton distillery, joined the group soon after in 1868.
In 1882, the company hired a young Corkman called Paddy Flaherty as a salesman.
Flaherty travelled the
pubs
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
of
Cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
marketing the company's unwieldy named ''"Cork Distilleries Company Old Irish Whiskey"''.
His sales techniques (which included free rounds of drinks for customers) were so good, that when publicans ran low on stock they would write to the distillery to reorder cases of "Paddy Flaherty's whiskey".
In 1912, with his name having become synonymous with the whiskey, the distillery officially renamed the whiskey ''Paddy Irish Whiskey'' in his honour.
In the 1920s and 1930s in Ireland, whiskey was sold in casks from the distillery to wholesalers, who would in turn sell it on to publicans.
To prevent fluctuations in quality due to middlemen diluting their casks, Cork Distilleries Company decided to bottle their own whiskey known as Paddy, becoming one of the first to do so.
Present Day
In 1988, following an unsolicited takeover offer by
Grand Metropolitan, Irish Distillers approached
Pernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard () is a French company best known for its anise-flavoured pastis apéritifs Pernod Anise and Ricard Pastis (often referred to simply as ''Pernod'' or ''Ricard''). The world’s second-largest wine and spirits seller, it also produ ...
and subsequently became a subsidiary of the French drinks conglomerate, following a friendly takeover bid.
In 2016, Pernod Ricard sold the Paddy brand to Sazerac, a privately held American firm for an undisclosed fee.
Pernod Ricard stated that the sale was in order to "simplify" their portfolio, and allow for more targeted investment in their other Irish whiskey brands, such as
Jameson and
Powers
Powers may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Powers'' (comics), a comic book series by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming
** ''Powers'' (American TV series), a 2015–2016 series based on the comics
* ''Powers'' (British TV series), a 200 ...
.
At the time of the sale, Paddy was the fourth largest selling Irish whiskey brand in the world, with sales of 200,000 9-litre cases per annum, across 28 countries worldwide.
In 2020, Paddy's was named the Best Blended Irish Whiskey at the
International Whiskey Competition. The whiskey also earned a silver medal and second place for the Best Irish Whiskey at the event.
Blend
Paddy whiskey is distilled three times and matured in
oak casks for up to seven years.
Compared with other Irish whiskeys, Paddy has a comparatively low
pot still
A pot still is a type of distillation apparatus or still used to distill liquors such as whisky or brandy. In modern (post-1850s) practice, they are not used to produce rectified spirit, because they do not separate congeners from ethanol as eff ...
content and a high
malt
Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as " malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air.
Malted grain is used to make beer, wh ...
content in its blend.
, author of the Whiskey bible, has rated Paddy as "one of the softest of all Ireland's whiskeys".
References
External links
Paddy Old Irish Whiskey websiteIrish Distillers on Paddy
{{Pernod Ricard
Irish whiskey
Pernod Ricard brands