Redbreast 12

Redbreast 12 is the leading expression of Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey, a category of whiskey unique to Ireland and one of the country's most important contributions to distilling heritage. Today it is produced at the Midleton Distillery in County Cork.

The Redbreast name traces its origins to a partnership formed in 1857 between the Jameson family of Dublin and the London-based wine and spirits merchant W.A. Gilbey Ltd. Gilbey's would mature whiskey supplied by Jameson in their own sherry casks and bottle it under names of their choosing. The Redbreast name itself, given by the Gilbey family in the early twentieth century, was inspired by the robin redbreast — a bird for which the family had a particular fondness and one of Ireland's most beloved. Following the closure of the original Jameson distillery in Dublin, production of Redbreast was interrupted in the 1980s and revived by Irish Distillers in 1991, now made at the modern Midleton Distillery.

Redbreast 12 is produced from a mash of both malted and unmalted barley, the defining feature of the Single Pot Still style. This mash is triple-distilled in traditional copper pot stills at Midleton — some of the largest in the world. The resulting spirit is matured for a minimum of twelve years in a combination of American bourbon barrels and Oloroso sherry butts sourced from Spain, giving the whiskey its signature balance of orchard fruit, spice and dried fig.

Single Pot Still whiskey is a distinctly Irish invention, developed in the nineteenth century partly in response to British taxes on malted barley. By using both malted and unmalted grain, Irish distillers could reduce their tax burden while producing a spirit of unusual character. Redbreast is widely credited with preserving and reviving this uniquely Irish tradition through the twentieth century.

To pour a glass of Redbreast is to taste a category of whiskey that exists nowhere else on earth.

Production of Redbreast paused during the closure of the old Jameson Bow Street distillery in Dublin and was reinstated at Midleton in 1991. The robin featured on every bottle continues to honour the Gilbey family's original inspiration.

Redbreast 12 has been recognised repeatedly at major international spirits competitions and is regularly cited among the finest examples of Irish whiskey ever produced.