Now that St. Patrick’s Day has come and gone for another year there a few Irish topics I would like to attack to start this BLOG. 

1. Proposition 317. The attempt by Guinness Beer to have St’ Patrick’s Day a notional holiday.  Great Idea though I think we would be best served by making the 18^th a holiday of recuperation. Go to http://www.proposition317.com/ for more from Guinness. (You must be 21 to enter)
2. Potheen………and Irish Whisky. Irish moonshine, ah tis a bit of heaven in a pot. What is your favorite Irish Whiskey (note: if it’s scotch or Makers Mark Bourbon it is spelled whisky) and your favorite Irish Pub.? Let’s hear the stories.
3. Any other ramblings about food, wine, spirits, beer and life experiences that involved these fabulous four. 

Poitín or Poteen (IPA ['p?oc?i?n], anglicized as putcheen) or formerly potheen (IPA ['p?ti?n] but in Ireland ['p?t?i?n]) is an Irish moonshine and may also refer to Irish Whiskey. The term is a diminutive of the word pota 'a pot'; Poitín was traditionally distilled in a small pot.^{[citation needed]}

The home brew is often strong and some market labels are as strong as 90% volume (180 US proof). Made from a brew consisting mainly of barley, it has a distinctive dry and grainy flavor with a delicate aftertaste that becomes sweeter as it develops. This legendary Irish moonshine was outlawed in 1760 and has only recently been legalized for consumption again in Ireland, though legal production for export has been allowed for quite some time.^{[citation needed]} It is now available in collectors' off licences. However, 'legal versions' of poitín are of a greatly reduced volume, and are not seen as 'the real thing'.^{[citation needed]}

More precisely, in 1661 King Charles II introduced a levy on spirits in the United Kingdom. In Ireland however it was totally ignored, but ninety nine years later the Crown tried again by outlawing private distillation unless specifically licensed by the State.^{[citation needed]} Overnight a large proportion of the Irish population became criminals as has anyone who has distilled it privately since.

Credit Wikipedia.