Why Jameson Irish Whiskey Always Tastes The Same, No Matter Where You Buy It

The world of whiskey offers enormous flavor variety. Factors such as the different grains employed for the base, the distillation style, and the barrel aging process all influence the resultant spirit. Even with the same creation process, the palate of liquor alters from one release to the next. Subsequently, it's hugely impressive that Jameson can craft widely distributed bottles that retain homogeneity.

The expression is more than another Irish whiskey for St. Patrick's Day; it's the most popular bottle of the substyle worldwide. Available in over 130 countries, you could venture to most parts of the globe and be able to sample the celebrated spirit. Achieving such dependability is an impressive feat that involves an array of production factors starting at the Midleton Distillery — located in County Cork, Ireland — where every bottle of Jameson is produced. Such centralized distillation ensures the whiskey creation undergoes a consistent process. From the ingredients that go into the bottle, distillation, aging, and final blending steps, Jameson management oversees every detail daily, thereby creating a similair product.

As with other whiskey distilleries, certain aspects of Jameson's production are not disclosed. Inside the doors of Midleton Distillery, distillers produce and blend enormous amounts of the liquor around the clock. Jameson owns tens of thousands of whiskey barrels; such a scale not only meets global demands, but also standardizes the result since the quirks of each individual batch get lost in the incredible quantity of blended whiskey.

Jameson involves two liquor types: A barley-based whiskey created in a pot still and a column-distilled whiskey composed of grain. As with most other Irish whiskeys, both are triple distilled. This production style creates a more easy-sipping and polished spirit that also conveys less nuance of the initial ferment (a positive for large-scale production). Consequently, when there are deviations among malts, the difference is less drastic per batch. Afterwards, the whiskeys are aged in ex-sherry and ex-bourbon charred oak barrels. Jameson ages for at least three years, however, the company possesses a variety of vintages in its portfolio. Some bottles, such as the Jameson Black Barrel, are set apart by a unique barrel composition. Although generally, much of the company's whiskey goes into an intricate blending process that creates its signature Irish whiskey. Through expertise and experience, blenders combine the huge quantities of liquor into an expression that dependably tastes similar. It's a complex and wondrous consistency that's helped solidify Jameson's global success.