Not bad — for a Protestant whiskey.

Yes, of course booze is nondenominational. But a few in that soft-hearted but hard-headed place called Ireland remain wont to factionalize whiskey (from the Gaelic uisce beatha, literally " water of life " ) according to religion: Bushmills, produced since 1608 in Ulster’s County Antrim (in the world’s oldest licensed distillery), has been called a Prod whiskey. Jameson, distilled in the Republic in Dublin and Cork, is supposedly the Catholic’s brand of choice.

Which, of course, is a bunch of bollix.

Ireland’s original single-malt whiskey, Bushmills Malt has much to recommend it to Catholic, Protestant, Zoroastrian, and Baha’i alike. Unlike most of the single malts produced next door in Scotland, Bushmills’ malt is distilled three times, rather than twice. More crucially, its malt is fire-dried without peat. The result is a clean, crisp, almost sweet flavor that eschews the smoky heft traditionally associated with single-malt Scotch. Instead, the whiskey, after aging a full decade in oak casks, maintains the malt’s robust tang and light overtones of vanilla and honey. It’s ideal, in other words, as an apéritif or digestif for someone who appreciates the smooth and complex sapors of a lovingly crafted and aged whiskey, but can do without a Scotch’s murky pugnacity.

It’s a taste anyone can enjoy. This St. Patrick’s Day, let’s raise a glass to ecumenicalism.

Available at local liquor stores for approximately $35 for a 750-milliliter bottle.