Updated April 2026.
Irish whiskey is a distinctive product of Ireland (27 CFR 5.143 Table 2 this fetch). Irish Whiskey Act 1980 this fetch: mash of cereals, distilled under 94.8%, matured in wooden casks at least three years on the island. EU GI technical file + Revenue verification this fetch: pot still, malt, grain, or a blend of those types; bottled at not less than 40%. Official leftover Jameson lock is 40/80. Triple distillation is common practice, not a one-size statute.
Owner leftover: who owns Jameson whiskey. Contrast leftover: Scotch vs Irish whiskey. Brand leftover: Jameson. Bourbon class leftover: what are the 5 keys of bourbon.
What the Act and the GI print
Irish Whiskey Act 1980 this fetch is short: distilled in the State or Northern Ireland from a mash of cereals, saccharified by malt diastase (other natural diastases allowed), fermented by yeast, distilled at less than 94.8% so the distillate keeps aroma and flavour from the materials, then matured in wooden casks for not less than three years in warehouse on the island (State, NI, or both). That is the 1980 floor. It does not name pot still, malt, or grain. Those varieties are the GI file.
EU GI technical file this fetch (DAFM, October 2014) and Irish Revenue GI verification this fetch (Reg. (EU) 2019/787) name four sales denominations: Irish whiskey as the class; Pot Still Irish Whiskey; Malt Irish Whiskey; Grain Irish Whiskey; and Blended Irish Whiskey as a combination of two or more of those types. Maturation is at least three years in wooden casks not exceeding 700 litres, on the island of Ireland. Only water and plain caramel colouring (E150a) may be added. Bottled Irish whiskey has a minimum alcoholic strength of 40% by volume. 27 CFR 5.143 Table 2 this fetch treats Irish whisky as a distinctive product of Ireland made under those home-consumption laws. Cats stay faqs and whiskey — not Scotch 7, not bourbon 6.
| Type this fetch | Mash / still (GI + Revenue) | What it is not |
|---|---|---|
| Irish whiskey (Act 1980) | Cereals mash; <94.8%; wooden casks ≥3 years | A bourbon or Scotch class |
| Pot still | ≥30% malted barley + ≥30% unmalted barley; max 5% other cereals; copper pot still | A 5.143 51% corn row |
| Malt | 100% malted barley; pot still | A required peat lock |
| Grain | Malted barley ≤30% + other unmalted cereals; column still | A pot-still type |
| Blended | Two or more of those types | A TTB “blend of straights” |
| Bottling floor | ≥40% (GI / Revenue this fetch) | An invented house ABV |
Bourbon and Scotch, if you need the contrast
27 CFR 5.143 this fetch for bourbon: mash not less than 51% corn, distilled 160° or less, charred new oak at 125° or less, bottled ≥40%, distilled and aged in the United States. Coloring column: “Yes, except for bourbon whisky.” Irish whiskey may take E150a (GI this fetch). Bourbon may not use that coloring exception. New charred oak is a bourbon storage rule. Irish maturation is wooden casks such as oak, including casks that held other drinks. That is the contrast. Not Kentucky-only for bourbon; not Ireland-as-bourbon.
Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 reg. 3 this fetch: distilled in Scotland from water and malted barley (other whole cereals allowed), distilled under 94.8%, matured only in oak casks ≤700 litres in Scotland for not less than three years, bottled at not less than 40%, and nothing added except water and/or plain caramel. Both islands share a three-year wooden-cask floor in the texts we fetched. The split is place, still/mash rules, and whether new char is required. Peat is practice, not a Scotch statute we will lock. Triple distillation is the Irish traditional practice in the GI file this fetch — “not exclusive”; double distillation is also employed. Revenue this fetch: Irish whiskey must be double or triple distilled. Unused recovered “must be triple or it is not Irish.”
Official leftover Jameson lock is 40/80 if the brand is named. jamesonwhiskey.com nutrition Cloudflare-blocked this fetch. Unused as a fresh brand HTML lock. Read the neck on other SKUs. We will not invent Distiller’s Batch or flavored percents on this URL. No 2026 MSRP. No shop. No #1 Irish crown.
What we will not print
- No “triple distillation required” statute. GI this fetch: traditional, not exclusive.
- No invented Jameson percent beyond leftover 40/80.
- No Scotch 7 or bourbon 6 on this slug. No peat-required Scotch lock.
- No shop / MSRP / ranking.
Sources
- Irish Whiskey Act 1980 this fetch (irishstatutebook.ie): cereals mash; <94.8%; wooden casks ≥3 years on the island.
- EU GI technical file this fetch (DAFM Oct 2014) + Revenue GI verification this fetch: pot still / malt / grain / blend; 700 L; E150a + water; ≥40%.
- 27 CFR 5.143 this fetch: Table 1 bourbon (51% corn, new char, no coloring exception); Table 2 Irish / Scotch as distinctive products.
- Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 reg. 3 this fetch: 3-year oak in Scotland; ≥40%; caramel allowed.
- Leftover Jameson 40/80 lock (brand HTML Cloudflare this fetch). Leftover Scotch vs Irish / Jameson owner already on disk.