Where does the phrase “Sine Metu” come from, what does “Sine Metu” mean and why does “Sine Metu” appear on all Jameson whiskey bottles to this day?
The story begins in the late 18th Century, when John Jameson came to Dublin from Scotland. Dublin was then a town of growing prosperity and great optimism.
John Jameson believed that this would be a great place in which to settle and establish an Irish distillery. Most spirit drinks available at the time were very harsh and – with the exception of brandy – fairly unpalatable. As a consequence, John Jameson foresaw that the only way to secure the success of his vision for a more refined whiskey drink was to instil it with a body and flavour surpassing those available at the time. Up until that point most Irish whiskeys were manufactured in ubiquitous small, local stills and were only distilled twice, rather than being triple distilled.
