This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Those not familiar with Irish whiskey can end up in a theological argument without even knowing it.
The question is over which brand you drink: Jameson or Bushmills?
Jameson is considered, by legend, to be the "Catholic" whiskey, while Bushmills is the "Protestant" brand — and ordering the wrong brand in the wrong bar has been known to start fights.
Historically, there is a religious divide. Bushmills' history, according to the company's website, goes back to the 1600s in County Antrim, in Protestant-controlled Northern Ireland. Jameson was first distilled in 1780 in Catholic-dominated Dublin, by John Jameson, a Scotsman transplanted to Ireland.
Today, large international corporations own both brands.
Jameson is owned by Pernod Ricard, the French-based liquor company that distributes such brands as Absolut Vodka, Chivas Regal Scotch, Beefeater gin and the liqueurs Pernod and Kahlua.
Bushmills is owned by London-based Diageo, which also sells (among other brands) Smirnoff Vodka, Tanqueray gin, Captain Morgan rum, Jose Cuervo tequila, and both J&B and Johnnie Walker Scotch.
Diageo also owns that other St. Patrick's Day staple, Guinness beer, so dropping a shot of Jameson into a pint of Guinness — a drink called an "Irish car bomb" — further complicates one's loyalties.
The old-timers at The Republican, an Irish bar at 917 S. State St. in Salt Lake City, still hold to the tradition. There, said owner Jason Meek, it's Jameson or nothing.
"A lot of the old fellas still hold to the stories that their da [father] couldn't get a job there [at the Bushmills' distillery] because they were Catholic," Meek said.
— Sean P. Means