Irish Moonshine

A tradition of illicit whiskey isn’t unique to the States. 

- Jeff Cioletti

THE TERM “MOONSHINE” usually evokes images of outlaws, Appalachia and Mason jars. But Americans certainly don’t have a monopoly on the concept, as most booze-making cultures throughout the world have some romanticized history of illicit production.

The Irish call this liquid “poitin” (sounds like “puhtcheen”), a Gaelic term that loosely translates to “little pot,” as in pot still. Its origins have been traced to the Middle Ages, predating just about every distilled beverage across Europe.

And, for much of its existence, it was illegal. When Ireland was under British rule, the crown tried to collect as much tax revenue from Irish distilling as possible, but couldn’t control all of the small pot stills in rural areas. So the Brits outlawed poitin production and chased it underground.

Three-hundred-plus years later, in 1997, poitin came out of hiding and was legal once again. But it took nearly two decades and a full-blown Irish whiskey renaissance for poitin to resurface in a meaningful way.