Poitín is Ireland’s original spirit and the precursor to modern-day whiskey. Prior to cask aging, poitín and whiskey were essentially the same spirit, separated only by the buying of a license. Banned for over 200 years by a foreign parliament, poitín was traditionally distilled from malted grains such as barley, oats, wheat and rye, using whatever was available locally or in season at the time. The word poitín means ‘small pot’ in Irish, and refers to the small pot-still commonly used by illicit distillers.