Where to Find the Best Irish Whiskey in NYC

This St. Patrick’s Day, we’re trading in beer kegs for glasses of whiskey, neat. Irish Whiskey is the speciality at Copper and Oak, the new sister to the West Village’s Brandy Library. It’s aptly named: Inside are oak-paneled walls (recycled from bourbon barrels) and copper ladders, stools and bar.

Copper and Oak spirits sommelier Joel Cuellar Flores has plenty to say about whiskey. Rule number one: Stay Irish. “Irish is the first whiskey I recommend. It’s slightly lighter than some Scotch, very flexible, and offers some fruity notes,” says Cuellar Flores. For St. Patrick’s Day last year, he made a flight of three Irish whiskeys, encouraging customers to note the different aromas.

Here, he recommends three premier Irish whiskeys to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in style.

Bushmills Black Bush, $7 per ounce

“Up until the early 1980s in Ireland there were only two whiskey distilleries, and one was Bushmills. To this day, Bushmills produces malt whiskey. However, this one is a blend: a single malt combined with a grain whiskey.”

Green Spot Single Pot, $7 per ounce

“Perhaps the most significant (when it comes to Irish whiskey) is the Single Pot Still whiskey. It is a combination of malted and unmalted barley. It’s the official whiskey of Ireland—what Irish people will actually drink. Most large distilleries will artificially color their whiskeys, but the color here comes from maturation.”

Knappogue Castle, $7.5 per ounce

“People have done a great job educating about wine, but most of us are not trained to taste whiskey, and don’t realize that all Irish whiskeys have different styles. The last whiskey in the flight is something a bit off the beaten path—a single malt that’s the closest you can find to a Scotch. ”

Copper and Oak: 157 Allen St., 212-460-5546
Wednesday-Saturday, 5:00pm-1:00am