There was a great turnout in the Brewery Tap in December for a very special local whiskey tasting event. In the heyday of P&H Egan the company owned the Brewery Tap pub. Read more below CLICK ON THE ARROWS ABOVE TO GO THROUGH ALL THE PICTURES “WE'RE back!” declared Rupert Egan as he addressed a packed Brewery Tap one evening last month when a crowd gathered in the pub to taste a range of whiskeys. Rupert's great great grandfather was Henry Egan and it was he and his brother Patrick who formed the P&H Egan company in 1852. The bonders and brewers played a key role in the commercial development of Tullamore and Egans was one of three big bonding names in Ireland along with Gilbeys and Mitchells. While Gilbeys and Mitchells were bought by Irish Distillers and are no more, Egans traded until the mid 1960s and was then revived by members of the family more than 10 years ago. In the heyday of P&H Egan the company owned the Brewery Tap pub and during the night of tasting and talk, Rupert thanked its current proprietor Paul Bell. “I'm very proud to be still here doing this. It means a lot to present in this bar that we used to own in a town that means so much to us,” he said. Unlike their famous Tullamore contemporaries the Williams family, the Egans did not distil whiskey. Instead, they bonded it, a process of blending and maturing different whiskeys in many ways to come up with signature varieties. Or as Rupert, who represents the sixth generation in the family, put it: “The point of being a bonder is to do things with spirit that is a little bit adventurous.” He presented five whiskeys to demonstrate that sense of adventure. The first was Bonder's Blend, a whiskey with 85% grain and 15% malt, with a sweetness emanating from bourbon casks and oak barrels. Egan's two biggest markets are the United States and Japan and in the latter country whiskey is mainly consumed as a highball cocktail. The Egan's Highball in the Japanese market is sold in cans and contains only Japanese spring water, shipped in
PICTURE SPECIAL: Great turnout for very special local whiskey tasting event in Tullamore
