John Jameson, The Scot Who Makes the Best Irish Whiskey

Guinness isn't the only popular Irish alcohol that been brewed up since the 18th century.  Just as Guinness is synonymous with Irish beer, Jameson is synonymous with Irish whiskey.  The recent ad campaigns in the US have been capitalizing on that legendary Irish nature.  However, John Jameson was Scottish!

Believe it or not, the whiskey business was a second career of John; a mid-life crisis decision of you will.  He was originally a lawyer in Scotland but John had a dream and that dream was to make a delicious whiskey and the place to do that was Dublin. Of course, moving to a city known for its whiskey was jumping headfirst into a competitive field.  Dublin had many distilleries and breweries in the 1780s.  John knew if he wanted to keep his Bow Street distillery he would have to make his product stand out, so he used different ingredients.  It was common for whiskey to be distilled twice in the 18th century, and John opted to distill it thrice for good measure, to this day Jameson still brags about "triple distilling" their whiskey.

Another smart business move was giving the workers good wages; happy workers means happy whiskey.  John knew his workers' names too and was known for giving them creative nicknames and he had no problem having a drink with them after their shift.  In fact, he was known to throw parties at the distillery on a regular basis.  Just imagine, taking the time to set and powder your hair to attend a distillery party!  Yes, it seems that John Jameson was quite the entrepreneur which is why his whiskey is still popular today.  So when you sip on that whiskey today you're tasting an authentic 18th century brew, cheers!