Through importer Foley Family Wines & Spirits, Two Stacks is always on the hunt for traditional Irish whiskeys that they can make their own. Two Stacks Single Grain Double Barrel showcases the versatility and refinement of Irish Grain Whiskey, a traditional style of whiskey most often used as a blending component.

The expression starts with a mashbill of 94% maize and 6% Irish malted barley. The technical file for Irish Grain Whiskey requires that it is produced with malted barley (not exceeding 30%) and includes un-malted cereal grains, in this case corn. The distillate is first aged for 3-5 years in former bourbon barrels, followed by 1-3 years in Oloroso sherry casks, both in a traditional Irish rickhouse on the Cooley Peninsula.

“I think a lot of folks in Ireland thought we were mad when we told them we were coming out with an Irish Grain Whiskey,” said Two Stacks Co-Founder Liam Brogan. “We were confident with the right blend and aging/finishing we could produce something rather sophisticated and unexpected that honored the legacy of this workhorse stalwart in Irish whiskey history.”

While not as historically entrenched as the famed Single Pot Still whiskeys of the 18th and 19th centuries, the single grain style gained momentum with the advent of column stills in the mid-1800s. However, it wasn’t until the establishment of Cooley Distillery in 1987 and The Great Northern Distillery in 2015 (both founded by John Teeling, David Hynes, and Jim Finn) that the style came into its own in modern Ireland. The whiskey from those distilleries is blended and bonded for this bottling.

Two Stacks Single Grain Double Barrel is available in both a 100 ml Dram in a Can and a 700 ml sustainable bottle made from 100% recycled glass for $6.99 and $44.99, respectively.

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Two Stacks The First Cut Signature Blend is the marriage of five whiskeys–two single grain whiskeys provide the foundation, a pot still whiskey, a double-distilled malt whiskey and a peated malt whiskey are added to make the expression.

While this blend hails from Great Northern Distillery, Two Stacks collaborates with more than 17 distilleries across the island of Ireland, including Killowen, Boann, Adara, Dingle and Echlinville Distillery. Every label details the exact blend composition and the origins of the distillates, ensuring customers know exactly what is in their whiskey. This blend comprises 40% single grain whiskey (aged in former Kentucky Bourbon casks), 40% single grain whiskey (aged in virgin American Oak casks), 8% pot still whiskey (aged in Oloroso Sherry casks), 10% double-distilled malt whiskey (aged in former Kentucky Bourbon casks), and 2% peated malt whiskey (aged in former Kentucky Bourbon casks). It is blended and bottled/canned at 86 proof.

“Two Stacks The First Cut Signature Blend features Peated Malt Whiskey,” noted Two Stacks Co-Founder Shane McCarthy. “Peat is typically associated with Scotch, but, in fact, has a rich legacy in Irish whiskey history. As recently as the early 1800’s, historians noted an abundance of ‘smoky’ Irish whiskeys, primarily from northwest Ireland, where peat was an abundant fuel source.”

Before the 1930s, there were hundreds of recognized whiskey bonders in Ireland – now there are just three, including Two Stacks. A whiskey bonder has the unique ability to take whiskeys from different distilleries, employ further aging if desired, and create differentiating whiskeys versus a single distillery laying down continuous distillate of a similar profile.

Two Stacks was founded in 2020 by three friends, Shane McCarthy, Liam Brogan and Donal McLynn. Their goal is to change the narrative on Irish Whiskey by reaching into country’s deep whiskey roots and putting people back into the fine art of Irish Whiskey making to create complex, sophisticated blends capable of challenging any whiskey in the world.

Through its new import agency partnership with Foley Family Wines & Spirits, Two Stacks The First Cut Signature Blend is available in both the 700 ml bottle ($37.99) and the unique 100 ml Dram in A Can  ($4.99) are now available in 19+ U.S. markets, including New York, Massachusetts, Florida and Minnesota. It is expected to achieve national distribution by the end of the year. In addition to a 700 ml sustainable bottle made from 100% recycled glass ($37.99 MSRP), The First Cut Signature Blend is also available in a ground-breaking 100 ml Dram in a Can ($4.99 MSRP).

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