As depressing as it may be, Benjamin Franklin proclaimed the ultimate statement of truth when he said, “In this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.” In Ireland, it was a British-imposed tax on malted barley in 1785 that led distillers to start utilising unmalted raw barley in addition to malted barley as a creative way to avoid the tax. The result was a style that came to be known as Irish single pot still whiskey.
With Ireland’s prestigious reputation for distilling, it’s not surprising that single pot still whiskey once dominated the world market during the 19th century. The malted barley tax was eventually repealed in 1855, but the style remained popular before fading into obscurity and nearly becoming extinct in the 20th century. Between prohibition in the United States, the Anglo-Irish trade war in the 1930s, and both world wars, the Irish distilling industry was stricken and blended whiskies from Scotland and America gained favour, forcing producers to meet the market demand. Yes, single pot still whiskey was born from a tax law, but in recent years it has evaded death thanks to a newfound enthusiasm for the style.
Patrick and Meagan Miller are among the new generation of distillers who are championing single pot still whiskey. The husband-and-wife duo own and operate Talnua Distillery, an ocean and half of a continent away from the spirit’s birthplace in Colorado, US. Their path to discovering it is romantic to say the least.
While on their honeymoon in Ireland in 2011, the newlywed Millers were posted up in a Galway pub watching the Rugby World Cup and chatting with the bartender as they sipped whiskey. When a liquor representative entered the pub with a case of Redbreast 12-year-old cask strength, the bartender became visibly excited, and his enthusiasm piqued the interest of the Millers. He gave them a sample along with a brief history lesson on pot still whiskey, and they were blown away.
“It was really interesting for us, when you look at the consumers that we were before our honeymoon, Irish whiskey was Jameson or Bushmills,” Patrick says. “We were more Scotch lovers than we were Irish because of availability and those were what we preferred [because] we’re barley people, bourbon was never our thing.”
They became fascinated with the history and loved the unique flavour profile, often characterised by having notes of spice and a silky-smooth mouthfeel. When the Millers returned to Colorado, they were inspired to help revitalise this style. Both of them had careers in the oil and gas industry but they spent their free time experimenting with distilling in their home and researching. They also tried to make annual trips back to Ireland to educate themselves, sample traditional single pot still whiskey, and of course, load a suitcase full of bottles that they couldn’t buy in the states.
When Patrick’s company downsized and they were faced with the choice of having to move to Texas, the couple opted to stay in Colorado and start fresh, deciding to pursue distilling full time. Patrick enrolled in an immersive distilling course at Breckenridge Distillery and afterwards landed a job at Stranahan’s Distillery in Denver, CO.
One day in November 2016, while working at Stranahan’s, Patrick took a call from a man who owned a building with a closed distillery as his former tenant. Looking to sell the left-behind distillery equipment, he contacted Stranahan’s as a potential buyer. Patrick put the man in contact with a manager at Stranahan’s, but he also contacted him on the side to enquire about the equipment for his personal use.
The Millers had dreamed of one day opening their own distillery and Patrick thought this could be the perfect opportunity to take their single pot still whiskey passion mainstream. In a leap of faith, they convinced the landlord to let them move into the building and start distilling in exchange for part-ownership in their distillery.
In 2019, Talnua Distillery opened to the public as the first distillery outside of Ireland to be fully dedicated to single pot still whiskey. The name comes from the Irish-Gaelic words “talamh”, meaning land, and “nua”, meaning new. The Millers are bringing this historic Irish style to a new land, embracing the American terroir while honouring the Irish Technical File that regulates the rules for the classification.
“We follow the Irish whiskey technical file because we want to follow the same standards of quality and assurance that they do because we also want more people to be making this style of whiskey,” Meagan says. “And it is happening all over the world. There’s a Japanese single pot still, a Canadian one, a couple Tasmanian and Australians, so it’s happening and we kind of just want to be playing the same ball game.”
To be considered Irish single pot still whiskey, the mash bill must be a minimum of 30 per cent malted barley, a minimum of 30 per cent unmalted barley, and up to 5 per cent oats, wheat, or rye. Talnua’s house mash bill uses 50 per cent malted and 50 per cent unmalted barley. According to Patrick, there is a proposal in Ireland to make the style a 30, 30, 30 mash bill which would allow up to 30 per cent oats, wheat, or rye.
Being in the United States and not technically having to abide by the Irish rules and regulations that currently stand, Talnua has jumped the gun and laid down its High Rye, a single pot still made with 30 per cent Colorado-grown rye and a White Winter Wheat using 30 per cent wheat. Talnua is designating those whiskeys as part of its single barrel programme and the Millers are excited to see how they turn out.
Another rule that distillers must follow to have a spirit classified as single pot still whiskey is that it must be wort separated or off-grain distilled. Instead of keeping the grains in the fermentation and distillation process, the way bourbon is made, single pot still whiskey is distilled with only the wort, or liquid component of the mixture. The Millers note this as a significant rule given that the mash goes all the way through the stills with most American styles of whiskey.
As the name suggests, the final specification for single pot still whiskey is that it must be distilled in a copper pot still. Hybrid stills don’t qualify, and the whiskey is also triple distilled most of the time.
“It is traditionally triple distilled because that raw barley is really oily in nature,” Patrick says. “When only double distilled it’s a very earthy and heavy distillate so the Irish then apply a third distillation which really lightens that oily texture and gives you a nice velvety mouthfeel to the whiskey. It also rounds out the sharp edges of the new make spirit.”
One interesting specification with single pot still whiskey is that it must be aged in wooden casks, not necessarily oak. As a result, distillers may choose chestnut, amburana, cherry, or other exotic woods to age the spirit. The freedom to explore with different barrels opens up a world of possibilities for distillers who wish to flex their creative control.
As for Talnua, the young distillery is sticking to the reliably delicious flavours imparted by American white oak. The distillery’s flagship whiskey is aged in charred, first-fill American white oak. However, the distillery offers a few different finishes for its core lineup including the Bourbon Cask and Stave series and the Continuum Cask whiskey that rests for a minimum of three years in new white oak before being vatted into a larger, Solera-inspired continuum cask. The distillery’s Heritage Selection whiskey is the only one that blends grain whiskey from Ireland’s Cooley Distillery and is not made to the exact specifications of the Irish Technical File.
While single pot still whiskey is the emphasis for Talnua, the Millers are also proud of the clear and barrel-aged gins they are producing which are made the same way as the whiskey except with Champagne yeast instead of Guinness yeast. In the third distillation, juniper, coriander, cardamom, Irish heather, and orris root are all macerated in the pot for 24 hours, and lastly the vapour passes through a basket with lemon peel and orange peel.
The Miller’s dedication to these Irish traditions is undeniable and they have an opportunity to solidify Talnua as a leading brand in the revival of this historic style. The Irish can lay claim to inventing it, but Talnua is proudly defining American single pot still whiskey while following in the footsteps of the Irish.
“We [Americans] speak bourbon, and for most Americans it’s either bourbon or Scotch, and if it’s Irish it means Jameson,” Patrick says. “To most American drinkers that’s still the landscape and so one of the fun things is that we get to be the standard bearers, the torch bearers of the revival of this style. As the whiskey drinker in America gets more knowledgeable, I think we’re going to be a really fun thing to uncover at some point.”
