Powers (whiskey)
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Powers is a brand of
Irish whiskey Irish whiskey ( ga, Fuisce or ''uisce beatha'') is whiskey made on the island of Ireland. The word 'whiskey' (or whisky) comes from the Irish , meaning ''water of life''. Irish whiskey was once the most popular spirit in the world, though a lo ...
. Historically a
single pot still whiskey Single pot still whiskey is a style of Irish whiskey made by a single distillation, distillery from a mixed Mashing, mash of malted and unmalted barley distilled in a pot still. Somewhat similar to Single malt whisky, single malt whiskey, the styl ...
, the flagship ''Powers Gold Label'' brand was the first
Irish whiskey Irish whiskey ( ga, Fuisce or ''uisce beatha'') is whiskey made on the island of Ireland. The word 'whiskey' (or whisky) comes from the Irish , meaning ''water of life''. Irish whiskey was once the most popular spirit in the world, though a lo ...
ever to be bottled. In recent years, several single pot still variants have been relaunched under the Powers label. Historically, Powers Gold Label was the best-selling whiskey in
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.


History

In 1791 James Power, an innkeeper from
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, established a small distillery at his public house at 109 Thomas St., Dublin. The distillery, which had an output of about 6,000 gallons in its first year of operation, initially traded as James Power and Son, but by 1822 had become John Power & Son, and had moved to a new premises at John's Lane, a side street off Thomas Street. At the time the distillery had three pot stills, though only one, a 500-gallon still is thought to have been in use. Following reform of the distilling laws in 1823, the distillery expanded rapidly. In 1827, production was reported at 160,270 gallons, and by 1833 had grown to 300,000 gallons per annum. As the distillery grew, so too did the stature of the family. In 1841, John Power, grandson of the founder was awarded a
baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
, a hereditary title. In 1855, his son Sir James Power, laid the foundation stone for the O'Connell Monument, and in 1859 became High Sheriff of Dublin. In 1871, the distillery was expanded and rebuilt in the Victorian style, becoming one of the most impressive sights in Dublin. After expansion, output at the distillery rose to 700,000 gallons per annum, and by the 1880s, had reached about 900,000 gallons per annum, at which point the distillery covered over six acres of central Dublin, and had a staff of about 300 people. During this period, when the Dublin whiskey distilleries were amongst the largest in the world, the family-run firms of John Power, along with John Jameson, William Jameson, and
George Roe The Thomas Street Distillery was an Irish whiskey distillery located in Dublin, Ireland. At its peak, it was Dublin's largest and most productive distillery and with an output of over 2 million gallons per annum, twice that of John Jameson's acc ...
, (collectively known as the "Big Four") came to dominate the Irish distilling landscape, introducing several innovations. In 1886, John Power & Son began bottling their own whiskey, rather than following the practice customary at the time, of selling whiskey directly to merchants and bonders who would bottle it themselves. They were the first Dublin distillery to do so, and one of the first in the world. A gold label adorned each bottle and it was from these that the whiskey got the name ''Powers Gold Label''. When
Alfred Barnard Alfred Barnard (1837–1918) was a British brewing and distilling historian. Life and work According to the limited family records available, Barnard was born in 1837 into a Baptist family in Thaxted, a rural village in Essex. He was one of eight ...
, the British historian visited John's Lane in the late 1880s, he noted the elegance and cleanliness of the buildings, and the modernity of the distillery, describing it as "about as complete a work as it is possible to find anywhere". At the time of his visit, the distillery was home to five pot stills, two of which with capacities of 25,000 gallons, were amongst the largest ever built. In addition, Barnard was high in his praise for Powers whiskey, noting:
''The old make, which we drank with our luncheon, was delicious, and finer than anything we had hitherto tasted. It was as perfect in flavour, and as pronounced in the ancient aroma of Irish Whisky so dear to the hearts of connoisseurs, as one could possibly desire, and we found a small flask of it very useful afterwards on our travels.''
The last member of the family to sit on the board was Sir Thomas Talbot Power, who died in 1930, and with him the Power's Baronetcy. However, ownership remained in the family until 1966, and several descendants of his sisters remained at work with the company until recent times. In 1961, a
Coffey still A column still, also called a continuous still, patent still or Coffey still is a variety of still consisting of two columns. Column stills can produce rectified spirit (95% ABV). Description The first column (called the analyzer) in a column s ...
was installed in John's Lane Distillery, allowing the production of vodka and gin, in addition to the testing of grain whiskey for use in blended whiskey. This was a notable departure for the firm, as for many years the big Dublin distilling dynasties had shunned the use of Coffey stills, questioning if their output, grain whiskey, could even be termed whiskey. However, with many of the Irish distilleries having closed in the early 20th century in part due to their failure to embrace a change in consumer preference towards blended whiskey, Powers were instrumental in convincing the remaining Irish distilleries to reconsider their stance on blended whiskey. In 1966, with the Irish whiskey industry still struggling following
Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
in the United States, the
Anglo-Irish Trade War The Anglo-Irish Trade War (also called the Economic War) was a retaliatory trade war between the Irish Free State and the United Kingdom from 1932 to 1938. The Irish government refused to continue reimbursing Britain with land annuities from fi ...
and the rise of competition from Scotch whiskey, John Power & Son joined forces with the only other remaining distillers in the Irish Republic, the
Cork Distilleries Company Cork Distilleries Company was an Irish whiskey distilling company. It was formed in 1867, when four Cork distilleries, Daly's, the Green, North Mall, the Watercourse were amalgamated under one company to form the Cork Distilleries Company. In ...
and their Dublin rivals John Jameson & Son, to form
Irish Distillers Irish Distillers is a subsidiary of the French drinks conglomerate Pernod Ricard. It is the largest distiller of Irish whiskey, distilling popular brands such as Jameson and Powers, in addition to premium whiskeys such as Redbreast and Midleto ...
. Soon after, in a bold move, Irish Distillers decided to close all of their existing distilleries, and to consolidate production at a new purpose-built facility in Midleton (the
New Midleton Distillery The Midleton distilleries complex is situated in Midleton, County Cork, Ireland. It is owned by Irish Distillers, a subsidiary of Pernod Ricard. Located alongside is the Old Midleton Distillery, which was established in the early 17th century and ...
) alongside their existing
Old Midleton Distillery The Jameson Experience, Midleton, (also known as the Old Midleton Distillery) is an Irish whiskey museum and visitor centre located in the Old Midleton Distillery in Midleton, County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Set over 15 acres, since ...
. The new distillery opened in 1975, and a year later, production ceased at John's Lane Distillery and began anew in Cork, with Powers Gold Label and many other Irish whiskeys reformulated from single pot stills whiskeys to blends. In 1989, Irish Distillers itself became a subsidiary of Pernod-Ricard following a friendly takeover. Since the closure of the John's Lane distillery, many of the distillery buildings were demolished. However, some of the buildings have been incorporated into the
National College of Art and Design The National College of Art and Design (NCAD) is Ireland's oldest art institution, offering the largest range of art and design degrees at undergraduate and postgraduate level in the country. Originating as a drawing school in 1746, many of th ...
, and are now protected structures. In addition, three of the distillery's pot stills were saved and now located in the college's Red Square.


Variants

In addition to Powers Gold label, a 12-year-old premium blend, and several single pot still whiskeys have been released under the Powers banner in recent years: * Powers Gold Label, 43%
ABV Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...
, triple-distilled blend of pot still and grain whiskey, matured in ex-
bourbon Bourbon may refer to: Food and drink * Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash * Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * A beer produced by Bras ...
American Oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ...
casks, non-chill filtered * Powers 12-year-old Special Reserve, 40% ABV, a blend of 12−21-year-old whiskeys with a high pot still content, matured in ex-Bourbon and sherry casks * Powers Three Swallow Release, 43.2%, single pot still, matured mainly in ex-Bourbon casks, with some input of whiskey matured in
Oloroso Oloroso ("scented" in Spanish) is a variety of fortified wine (sherry) made in Jerez and Montilla-Moriles and produced by oxidative aging. It is normally darker than Amontillado. Oloroso is usually dark and nutty. Unlike the fino and Amontillado ...
Sherry casks * Powers Signature Release, 46%, single pot still, matured mainly in ex-Bourbon casks, with some input of whiskey matured in Oloroso Sherry casks * Powers John's Lane Release, 46%, single pot still, 12-year-old, matured mainly in ex-bourbon casks, with some input of whiskey matured in Sherry casks


Accolades

In the 2012 edition of the ''Whisky Bible'', whiskey writer Jim Murray named Power's John's Lane Release ''Irish Whiskey of the Year'' and described it as "certainly one of the top five world whiskies of the year". More recently, in 2015, Powers Signature Release won a gold medal in the category ''Irish Single Pot Still Whiskey'' at the Irish Whiskey Awards.


See also

* Irish whiskey brands *
Jameson Irish Whiskey Jameson ( or ) is a blended Irish whiskey produced by the Irish Distillers subsidiary of Pernod Ricard. Originally one of the six main Dublin Whiskeys at the Jameson Distillery Bow St., Jameson is now distilled at the New Midleton Distillery ...


References


External links


Powers - Single Pot Still
- a Single Pot Still whiskey portal run by Irish Distillers
Whiskey Distilling: a Part of Dublin's Industrial Heritage (1977)
- Short video clip from the
RTÉ Archives (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...
showing John's Lane Distillery just before it closed {{Pernod Ricard Irish whiskey Pernod Ricard brands