Proper Twelve whiskey: overview and history, features, how to drink
The first batch of Irish whiskey Proper Twelve was released in 2018, and it was immediately sold out in an instant. The increased interest in the new brand is explained, first of all, by the scandalous fame of its founder, mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor, and only then by the high quality and excellent taste of the original whiskey.
A brief history of the brand and its creator
The Irish fighter, who was born in 1988 in the Dublin suburb of Crumlin, began his career by winning the regional MMA championship. At that time, McGregor was 17 years old.
By the age of 20, he had already become a professional fighter and won several serious victories in the ring.
In 2015, Conor twice won the UFC title and soon became one of the richest people in Ireland. That's when the work on the production of their own brand of alcohol began.
The decision to create a new drink did not come to the athlete spontaneously: McGregor's own grandfather was a true whiskey fan and passed on to his grandson a lot of useful information about the varieties, production methods and brands of his favorite product. The fighter himself explained that it took him about 3 years to develop the original recipe.
The first version of "McGregor's" whiskey was presented to the world in 2017. The drink was named "Notorious" after the nickname given by fans at the beginning of his sports career. However, it turned out that products under this name already exist: the owner of one of the breweries filed a complaint against McGregor for using a registered brand of alcohol.
Not at all upset, Conor paid the fine and in 2018 pleased his fans with a new drink - Proper Twelve.
The whiskey was produced at one of the oldest Irish distilleries in the village of Bushmills, County Antrim, with the participation of David Elder, a former employee of the Guinness breweries. The master distiller created about a hundred blends to try, from which McGregor chose the best one. It was he who received the title of "proper" whiskey.
The second part of the name was taken from the postal code of the Dublin neighborhood in which McGregor grew up.
In the future, McGregor plans to build his own distillery, expand the line with more mature whiskey options and drinks aged in wine barrels, and, of course, push the main competitor - the Jameson brand.
Features of production
Proper Twelve whiskey is a blend of sweet grain and classic single malt whiskey. The blend is made using traditional Irish technology with some additions:
Selected barley is soaked, sprouted, carefully dried in the open air, crushed and mashed with spring water.
Let the mixture ferment for two days and get a wort containing about 8% alcohol. For its processing, a triple distillation method is used in copper stills.
The drink is aged for at least 3 years in bourbon barrels, which are selected with great care. Due to aging in such a container, the product acquires the aroma of vanilla, honey and burnt wood.
Single malt whiskey is combined with grain alcohol, using the best samples aged in oak barrels for blending.
The drink is bottled in branded green bottles with a black label and a logo in the form of a crowned tiger's head. Each bottle has a convex inscription "smooth is fast", which can be translated as "instant softness".
How to drink Proper Twelve whiskey
The manufacturer recommends drinking Proper Twelve neat, combined with ice, a slice of lime or pickle.
You can use whiskey to make cocktails, including lemon juice, ginger ale, bitters, cola, syrup, cherries, vermouth and other ingredients.
Update: 21.03.2019
Category: Whiskey and Bourbon