Straw Boys Poitin

$61.99 price per bottle

Poitin, pronounced put cheen and sometimes spelled poteen, is unaged, white whiskey that has been made in small Irish villages for decades. It's essentially what Americans call moonshine. While Dublin distillers benefited from economies of scale, rural distillers operating in western Ireland's isolated townlands relied more on a keen eye for the excise man and their neighbours generosity to pitch in and pay the fine if they were caught. One of our founders had a great-great uncle, a John Mullarkey, who spent a few months in the Sligo Gaol for the crime of illicit distillation.

Whereas John Mullarkey would have used a small, portable still up in the Ox Mountains, we use Connacht Distillery's beautiful copper stills and a traditional malted barley base for the mash. Although poitin is oftentimes very high proof - as much as 120 proof, our poitin has a more restrained proof point of 90 (45% ABV). Straw Boys Irish Poitin was awarded a Double Gold and Best in Category by the American Distilling Institute. Only 9 brands out of 802 entered were given the Double Gold distinction. We were also awarded a Gold Medal at the 2017 Irish Whiskey Awards.

The name Straw Boys Poitin celebrates the theme of family, friends, and neighbours which is inherent in the story of Irish poitin. Crashing parties, particularly weddings, is a long-standing tradition, and in the West of Ireland wedding crashers were known as straw boys. Straw boys would obscure their faces with large conical hats made of straw, pop into the reception, dance with the bride and groom, have a quick drink, and then be on their way. The appearance of straw boys was a sign of good luck to the wedding couple.

Producer
The Connacht Whiskey Company Ltd. is the result of a dream shared by four men, three Americans and one Irishman, to bring pure pot still Irish whiskey back to the West of Ireland after an absence of over 100 years. These men share bonds of family and friendship. They also share a respect of heritage and a commitment to Connacht, one of the most natural and unspoiled regions of Ireland.

Like many Irish-Americans, the Stapletons were eager to reconnect with family in Ireland. Over tea one afternoon in an Irish B & B, the American Stapletons found cousins who had chosen to remain in Ireland. Both families, on either side of the Atlantic, had flourished.

Recognizing that no Irish companies were making Irish whiskey, the Stapletons decided that the Irish deserved to have their own distillery and that Americans needed more choices in what Irish whiskey they could buy in the U. S. They decided to build an independently-owned Irish distillery that would produce craft products of the finest order. They realised, however,

that they needed more expertise in craft distilling, marketing, and sales to make their dream a reality, so they reached out to friends. Two friends joined them to make the dream a reality. The first friend was an award-winning master distiller who had won numerous international gold medals and also custom designed stills. The second friend had over thirty years experience in the complicated U. S. spirits industry. That friend's mother happened to have been born and raised in County Sligo, 30 minutes from the distillery.

This is the dream of four men who combine the best of what it means to be Irish and American.