Paddy is a brand of
blended Irish whiskey
Irish whiskey ( 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 long period of ...
produced by the
Sazerac Company
Sazerac Company, Inc. is a privately held American alcoholic beverage company headquartered in Metairie in the metropolitan area of New Orleans, Louisiana, but with its principal office in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is owned by William ...
. As of 2016, Paddy is the fourth largest-selling Irish whiskey in the World.
History
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. I ...
was founded in 1867 to merge four existing distilleries in
Cork city
Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...
(the
North Mall,
the Green,
Watercourse Road, and
Daly's) under the control of one group. A fifth distillery, the
Old Midleton Distillery
The Old Midleton Distillery, also known as the Jameson Experience, Midleton, is a former Irish whiskey Distillation, distillery that was turned into a museum and visitor centre located in Midleton, County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Se ...
, 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 in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...
of
Cork
"Cork" or "CORK" may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
*** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine
Places Ireland
* ...
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
Grand Metropolitan plc was a leisure, manufacturing and property conglomerate headquartered in England. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it merged with Guinness plc to form ...
, 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.
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.
For the American market, the whiskey was rebranded as "Paddy's" but the product is the same as that still sold in Ireland as "Paddy."
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 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 ...
content and a high
malt
Malt is any cereal grain that has been made to germinate by soaking in water and then stopped from germinating further by drying with hot air, a process known as "malting".
Malted grain is used to make beer, whisky, malted milk, malt vinegar, ...
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 website
{{Alcoholic drinks
Sazerac Company brands
Irish whiskey