Irish whiskey now outsells Scotch single malt in the United States

I think this is a non news story. Irish blends and single malt outsells Scottish single malt... yeah but if you add in Scottish blends to make it a fair comparison, 9m Scottish cases beats 1.4m Irish cases by a huge amount. No? Am I the only one who actually read the report? Hey it's all a matter of personal taste that some of you prefer the Irish stuff, good for you and good for the Irish whiskey industry but really the way the figures are portrayed is massively misleading. Me personally, I'll drink whisky from any country if I enjoy the taste.

my imppression: redbreast is a jameson product. any backup on this? great tip: I clicked around on videos re irish whiskeys and came upon a beauty for johnny walker; 7 min long or so, but brilliantly done and perfect blend of info and entertainment, it's called "the man who walked around the world". you'll love it, i predict.

Bushmills is my Irish (or any) whiskey of choice. But maybe it's because my dear old Irish ma introduced it to me on a trip to Ireland and a visit to the Bushmills Distillary. Never could understand the excitement about Scotch.

After 10 years of drinking and collecting whiskies, primarily Scotch, I started boycotting Scotch the day the Scottish government decided to release that Libyan terrorist, Al Megrahi, from prison and return him to Libya in exchange for an oil deal from Qaddafi. The only form of protest I had against such a heinous and cynical move was to stop buying all the Scotches that I enjoyed so much--I openly swore a boycott until either the "terminally ill" Megrahi (who is still alive and well, BTW) or his boss, Qaddafi, were dead. I switched to Irish whiskey and have never looked back, even now that Qaddafi has gone to his reward. Sorry Scotland, decisions have consequences.

I work in the business (distribution end) and have a penchant for Cooley, however I can attest to the popularity of the Jameson brand.( this article does not mention that Lady Gaga drinks the stuff and regularly mentions the brand in her comments). As for Scotch there is a general shortage of the stuff as the Chinese are grabbing as much as they can get their hands on.

My good doctor it's all academic and a matter of taste.The triple disstilled Irish whiskey leaves scotch draining on the dirty old peat from wihch it is distilled.I prefer a Jamesons 18yr.old myself

While Jameson is a very fine whiskey,When I drink whiskey I perfer John Powers,stay thirsty my friend!!!

Before Prohibition, if you asked for whiskey in a bar, you got Irish. During Prohibition Joe Kennedy (father of John, Bobby and Ted) cornered the Scotch whiskey market). After Prohibition the whiskey of choice was what was available, Scotch. Joe Kennedy drove us to this sorry state.

I get the sense that a lot of people are missing a crucial piece of information here. Irish Whiskey is not outselling Scotch; it is outselling Scotch SINGLE MALT. Single malts are luxury, niche brands that -- given their high price -- do not occupy the same market as mid-price brands such as Irish whiskey. As the article clarifies, Blended Scotch such as Johnny Walker, Haig or whatever still sells about five times as many bottles as Irish Whiskey. (If you add in malts the Caledonian domination is even more stark.) For the record, I think regular Irish Whiskey is better than blended Scotch, but no spirit can compete for complexity with the best Scottish Malts: Laphroaig, the Macallen, Ardbeg, Belvenie etc. Pleasant, but one-note, quality Irish brands such as Black Bush, Jameson 12 Year Old or Powers Reserve are not even at the races.

Murph, not too young now!!! I've been told by many that I look at least 20 yrs younger than I am. I attribute that to good genes, Black white frothy stuff, and my "Jamie'.

Not in the least bit surprised, Jamesons is an excellent whiskey and top seller in Ireland

Like all things Scottish, their whiskey is just a copy of all things Irish. Now they think they can be independent as well......

Cripes JB you just now tellin me that more Jameson"s would have kept me YOUNG!Gotta make up for lost time now!

Jameson's is #1!!!!

As much as I love all things Irish I must admit..... is fearr liom uisce Albanach. (I prefer Scotch Whisky). Not sure why exactly...I guess it was cuz Glenlivet was my first Whisky experience.