Pure pot still whiskey is whiskey distilled by a pot still. The term emphasizes that the whiskey contains only spirits produced from a pot still, without being blended with column still whiskey or neutral grain spirits. They are typically distilled from a mixture of malted and unmalted barley, and thus can not be called single malts.
Unlike the term “single malt” in Scotch whisky regulations, the terms “pot still” and “pure pot still” are generally not protected terms with well-defined legal meanings. Whiskey producers have sometimes used the term "pot still" in the name or advertising for whiskeys that have actually been distilled using a column still for at least some part the distillation process.
Although the pot still was essentially the only distillation method for whiskey prior to the invention of the continuous still, the invention of the continuous still made whiskey making substantially more economical, which – along with a number of historical factors including the Irish War of Independence, the Irish Civil War, and Prohibition in the United States – has led to a drastic reduction in the number of pot still distilleries in current operation.
Apart from the Scottish single malts, the majority of modern distilleries use continuous stills. However, due to recent attention from prominent whiskey critics such as Jim Murray and the praise given to surviving non-single malt pure pot still whiskeys such as Redbreast and Green Spot, the style has seen a revival in recent years. For example, in late 2008, the Irish company Porterhouse Brewery announced that they would be investing 8 million euros in the creation of a new distillery in Dingle, County Kerry that will be devoted to the production of pure pot still whiskey in the traditional style.[1]