Midleton Distillery (Redbreast)

The Largest Alembic in the World: In the historical part you can admire the iconic pot still (copper still) original, recognized as the largest in the world with a capacity of more than 140,000 liters.

Each pot still distilled whiskey in the Redbreast Family Collection is made with a meticulous blend of malted and unmalted barley, sourced from farms in the Munster region surrounding our distillery. This care and attention to detail defines each bottle in our whiskey collection, making it one of the most prestigious Redbreast Whiskey family collections on the market today.

Irish whiskey is made from a blend of malted and unmalted barley, sourced primarily from farms in the Munster region, around our distillery. The Midleton distillery is one of the few in the world that uses unmalted barley. However, this was not always the case, as this is the traditional way of making Irish whiskey since the 19th century. The English malt tax is often cited as the main reason for the use of unmalted barley, as it made whiskey production cheaper. In addition, it gives the whiskey a silky or creamy texture that is difficult to achieve with malted barley, and a spicy touch that characterizes Irish whiskey. This does not diminish the importance of malted barley, which is essential for the production of whiskey. Visually, it is almost identical to unmalted barley, but when you bite into it, it is crunchy and sweet in flavor. The main reason for malting barley is to facilitate the access of starch to the yeast during fermentation. Of course, the tradition in many countries, especially Scotland, is to make whiskey with 100% malted barley, which gives it a particularly malty, cookie or cereal character. The barley malting process takes approximately four days. The growth of barley is stimulated to activate enzymes that break down starch-containing cell walls. This is achieved by soaking the barley in water for several hours to induce germination. It is then spread on mats at a temperature of 18 degrees Celsius and the barley begins to sprout. Once germination reaches a certain point, the maltster dries the barley in closed, smokeless ovens to fix the enzymes and prepare them for conversion into sugars during fermentation.