When Prohibition finally ended in 1933, the American palate had acquired a taste for Scotch and so allowed Scotch Whisky to blaze a trail throughout North America and also the British Empire.

Irish distilleries were falling like houses of cards and this continued until the 1960’s when Powers, Jameson and Cork Distillers merged in an effort to stop the decline. A new distillery was constructed behind the Old Midleton Distillery in County Cork. This new company known as Irish Distillers went on to buy Bushmills Distillery giving them a monopoly on Irish Whiskey. They went on to sell Bushmills to Diageo in 2005.

In 1987 new life was given to the industry with the founding of Cooley Distillery. This new company went on to restore and reopen the Old Kilbeggan Distillery in 2009. It has been a key player in the revival of Irish whiskey releasing some groundbreaking brands such as the peated (smoky) Connemara and their Single Grain Greenore whiskey. In 2012 Jim Beam Brands bought the Cooley and Kilbeggan distilleries for €73 million with the intent of building the Kilbeggan brand in the States.

In the present era of Irish Whiskey, it is a very exciting time for all involved, whether it be just a quiet dram on a Friday evening or a life longs ambition for some distillers. In the past 3 years, there have many new companies developing in the Irish industry, such as The Teeling Whiskey Company and Glendalough Whiskey which now have award-winning whiskeys to their names. And companies such as, the Dingle distillery, Alltech and the Echlinville distillery which are currently laying down whiskey to age. With these companies and the many other companies who have registered to build distilleries and produce whiskey in the coming years, it proves to be an exciting time to enjoy Irish Whiskey.