Some literary anniversaries are easy to pair with the appropriate booze: Any literate drinker can justify an Irish whisky or a pint of Guinness on Bloomsday.

FORBES: Loaded With Shinny: Lane Cakes & To Kill A Mockingbird

The new release already won Irish Whisky of the Year from the Whisky Advocate, and virtually every review I have been able to find is absolutely stellar, and justifiably so.

FORBES: My Favorite Irish Whiskey Is Back - And Better Than Ever

The Irish town of Tullamore has not produced whisky for decades, but last month construction began on a new distillery that will bring its namesake spirit, Tullamore Dew, back home to the Midlands Region by summer 2014.

BBC: Whisky returns to the Irish Midlands

The Samuels family began distilling whisky (proud of their Scottish-Irish ancestry, the Samuels eschew the Americanized spelling of whiskey) commercially in 1840.

FORBES: Making 46: Maker's Mark Produces First New Bourbon In Half A Century