Rescuing Ireland's potato vodka history

Non-historian Leary.

On his current national tour, the comedian/actor/writer Denis Leary rarely hits a wrong note, verbally or musically.

However, in a visit to Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" this week, he stepped in it, historically.

Leary, there to publicize the final-season debut of his FX channel show "Rescue Me," got to talking about potato vodka. Quoth he: "The thing for Irish guys is we're always amazed. ... We can't believe we had potatoes for years and we didn't invent potato vodka."

Well, Denis, "we" did.

Long, long ago, "our" (those of us with Irish linege) forebears did more with potatoes than just boil, bake, fry or mash them. As far back as the 16th Century they were distilled to create a clear spirit spelled variously poitin, potcheen and probably several other ways but pronounced "put-cheen." It is a vodka and Ireland's version of moonshine.

The potato was introduced to Ireland in 1589 by the adventurous Sir Walter Raleigh at his Myrtle Grove estate in County Cork. It quickly became a staple of the Irish diet, and was used in combination with malt yeast, barley, sugar and water to create a baor (beer) after fermentation for several weeks in wooden barrels. Later, some of it was distilled into the clear spirit that goes by many names in many countries, but all boils down to vodka.

Today, Boru is the top-selling Irish potato vodka.

To Dowd's Wine Notebook latest entry.
To Dowd's Brews Notebook latest entry.
To Dowd's Tasting Notes latest entry.
Back to Dowd's Guides home page.