I stopped at the Bushmill's Irish Whisky stand and told the girl there how I had brought Irish coffee to the U.S. in 1956 while publicizing Bushmill's.
Writers Tears is an Irish whiskEy - note the E! The difference between Scotch (on which Tassie whisky is modelled) and Irish whisky is the distillation and the barley.
New York sirloin was fine taken neat, but for an extra $5, dense, wickedly delicious wild mushroom Irish whisky sauce took the dish to celestial heights.
Scotch style is distilled twice and uses all malted barley; Irish whisky distills three times and combines half-malted half-green barley.
Bushmills 16-year-old: £53.75, 70cl, amazon.co.uk Tricky to get hold of - and with good reason - the giant of Irish whisky making's 16-year-old treasure is matured in a combination of barrels.
RECOMMENDED DISHES Chicken quesadilla, special squab marinated in balsamic vinegar, mesclun salad with mushroom compote, seafood scampi pizza, salmon in pesto crust, grilled lamb chops, New York sirloin with wild mushroom Irish whisky sauce ($5 extra), hoisin roasted duck, cara-poire, tarte paysanne, craquelin, ecureuil.
The group's global brands include Absolut, Chivas Regal, Ballantine's, Glenlivet, Royal Salute, Jameson Irish whisky, Martell cognac, Havana Club rum, Beefeater gin, Kahlua and Malibu liqueurs, Mumm and Perrier-Jouet champagnes and Jacob's Creek, Brancott, Camp Viejo and Graffigna wines.
Post skate, guests cosy up in the poolside Ice Bar for specialty cocktails like the "Chill Pick Me Up", made with Jameson Irish whisky, Kahlua and hot coffee, or comfort food including sherry braised dates and clams baked with chorizo and mescal butter.
Bushmill's Irish Whisky was sampled... in small cups.
There are dozens of varieties of bourbon, rye, Irish whisky, single-malt and blended Scotch, including some interesting Japanese labels.
