Poitin

Poitin is a traditional Irish distilled spirit, ranging from about 40 to 90 percent alcohol by volume, its name coming from the Irish word pota, meaning pot, after the small copper pot still traditionally used to make it. Under official specifications it can be made from cereals, grain, whey, sugar beet, molasses or potatoes, though historically the base was most often malted barley, similar to single malt whisky. It was traditionally distilled in remote rural areas away from law enforcement, the mash fermented and then heated for several days, historically over turf fires before bottled gas became available, and a licensing requirement for spirit distillation dating to a 1556 parliament held in Drogheda long made unlicensed production illegal. Commercially produced poitin is legal in Ireland today, having received European Union Geographical Indication status in 2008, with the Irish government adopting formal technical production specifications in 2015.