“We often tell wonderfully romantic stories about the origin of Irish whiskey. We mention monks and perfumes, we invariably try to get one over the Scots by claiming whiskey’s true provenance in Ireland and we speak proudly of world whiskey domination at one point in time.

But, of course, with 800 years of ups, downs, ups again, and a few more downs, the truth is far more complex than a few easily relied upon stories. In an effort to map out the history of Irish whiskey once and for all, to tie loose fragmented pieces of a greater story together, and to see could the arc of Irish whiskey’s journey be committed to paper (or even audio), Irish whiskey fan Barry Chandler and the far more qualified Irish whiskey historian, Fionnán O’Connor sat down with a few drops of whiskey in hand to discuss the people, places, and products of almost eight centuries of the spirit that we call Irish whiskey today..”

LISTEN HERE