What is the difference between Irish Whisky and Scotch?

Scotch whisky is made from 100% malted barley. Irish whiskey is usually spelled with an "e" and is made from a mixture of malted and unmalted barley. Scotch whisky is double-distilled, Irish whiskey is triple-distilled. The malt for Scotch is often dried over an open peat fire, giving a characteristic smoky flavor. Irish malt is usually dried in closed kilns without smoke. Both are distilled in pot stills, which use a batch process. There are "blended" varieties of each which consist of mixtures of pure barley spirits combined with grain whiskey made in continuous-process column stills. And each spirit must come from the specified country.