Two recent additions to the collection -- Feckin and Finian's -- illustrate the common practice of private labeling, or when a manufacturer creates a product for sale by an unaffiliated company under a different label and brand identity. Private labeling applies to countless products beyond whiskey of course. Canned goods, clothing and gasoline are three other typical examples.

From Whence They Come
Irish whiskeys come from one of three distilleries in Ireland. Those are the Midleton Distillery near Cork, the Cooley Distillery in Co. Louth (about 60 miles/100 km north of Dublin) and the Bushmills Distillery in Co. Antrim in Northern Ireland. That compares to more than 120 distilleries in Scotland. The staggering difference is the result of a tangle of historical, political and economic reasons that I won't get into here.

Many whiskey brands such as Jameson, Bushmills and Tyrconnell (Midleton, Bushmills and Cooley distilleries, respectively) are owned and marketed by the distillery at which they are produced. But those distilleries also make a variety of whiskeys under contract to other brand owners and marketers, (e.g. the venerable Green Spot). That includes some single malt, grain and blended whiskeys. And the blends may include whiskeys from different distilleries. They also make a variety of other distilled spirits.

There's an excellent list of whiskey brands and the distilleries at which they are made at David Havelin's Irish Whiskey Notes website. Look under the Reference heading for the Irish Whiskey Explorer.

The F Words
Feckin and Finian's are both produced by Cooley. Cooley is the largest independent distillery in Ireland, i.e., not part of either Pernod Ricard or Diageo, the two beverage conglomerates that own the Midleton and Bushmills facilities.


Feckin is a decent and drinkable offering -- consider it "average." It's produced for the Feckin Drinks Company of Portaferry, Co. Down. If you're unfamiliar, "feckin'" is a mixed-company way the Irish drop the F-bomb, not unlike the way "frickin" "friggin" or "freakin" are used in the States. Quite a useful word, especially in written form. Feckin whiskey's brand name conveys edgy coolness, and that's a desirable quality when you're aiming for the target audience of 25-34 year old males. It's a young blend with a heavy caramel coloring, a whiskey/spirity nose, an oaky taste with a prolonged spicy finish. If you called central casting for an Irish whiskey this may be what they send you, though it might have a black-and-white generic "Irish Whiskey" label a la Repo Man on it. I hear they're soon coming out with a 10-year-old expression named "Gobshite" and a vodka labeled "Buggeroff."  (No, not really).

Finian's has a slightly deeper amber color, a mildly citrus nose that turns into a pronounced citrus-y taste (think TD's citrus tones x2) and a very long, noticeably warm and quite spicy finish. It's one of several private labeled whiskeys produced exclusively for the U.S. market, including a new one called Kellan.

Between the two I'd go with Feckin. It "tastes like Irish whiskey" just like unfamiliar meats "taste like chicken." Finian's citrus-ness is a tad overdone for me.

Don't mean to slam either with faint praise. Rather, and as I've often noted before, everyone's tastes vary. These are two entries that will introduce Irish whiskey to a broader audience through brand appeal and value pricing (about $20). Given my druthers for about the same price, I'd opt for a bottle of standard Jameson or Bushmills as an intro to the unin-uisce-ated.

Major props to Cooley in any case for continuing to expand the range of Irish whiskeys -- and some great ones at that -- on the market.