Irish Whiskey: Ireland’s best-known and most-loved whiskeys

Ballykeefe Distillery

CONTACT: Ballykeefe Distillery, Kyle, Ballykeefe, Cuffsgrange, County Kilkenny, R95 NR50

WEBSITE: ballykeefedistillery.ie

DESCRIPTION: Working distillery, visitor centre, and farm

There are generations of experience behind the distillery at Ballykeefe in County Kilkenny, which is built on a working beef and tillage farm. Visitors here are likely to meet farmer Morgan Ging and his wife and four children personally, as they run these two perfectly complementary businesses in the heart of rural Ireland. You are also likely to meet their cattle. The farm outhouses were converted to house their three copper stills, which were handmade in Italy by another family business, Barison Industries. The water is their own and the barley is grown on site. Maturing happens here too, in first-fill bourbon barrels, making this one of the most environmentally aware, closed-loop distilleries in the country. They simply do it all themselves.

They’ve already won more than thirteen international awards for their vodka, poitín, and gin, using the spirit they’ve distilled since 2016. Their first whiskey is due for bottling in August 2020 but their most recent sample, tasted after nineteen months in barrel, has fuelled their confidence levels. They use only the highest cut of the distillate, they say, to ensure their whiskey will be extremely smooth, and this early taste is right on target. They have a single malt, a single pot still, and a 100 per cent rye whiskey under way, as well as various blends of this trio.

Bucking the trend of other distilleries, Ballykeefe chose not to launch a sourced-whiskey brand in advance, putting all their stock in their own hard work. Despite their whiskey not being available to taste yet, there’s already a well-worn route to Ballykeefe by whiskey societies and individual whiskey fans. This ambitious family affair is a really positive addition to the Irish whiskey landscape, and well worth experiencing first hand for an alternative take on who is building the category.

Blackwater Distillery

CONTACT: Blackwater Distillery, Unit 3, Cappoquin Enterprise Park, Cappoquin, County Waterford

WEBSITE: blackwaterdistillery.ie

DESCRIPTION: Working distillery

Blackwater Distillery have had tremendous success with their gin products, pouring huge amounts of effort into the creation of a family of gins which is trusted, innovative, and packed with personality. So, becoming the twenty-first Irish whiskey distillery to start operating here, in November 2018, sparked lots of enthusiasm for what they might conjure.

A quick glance at posts on their blog will drop you directly into a refreshing whirl of attitude and opinion on where the future of Irish whiskey is headed. They’ve challenged themselves in this bright new world of Irish whiskey. Experimenting with maturation isn’t enough for these trailblazers to start heralding a revolution, it seems. Instead they want to create real distance between what they are creating and the rest of the field.

The people behind the distillery, founder and former broadcaster Peter Mulryan, Kieran Curtin, and the head distiller, US-born John Wilcox, feel this can only be achieved through provenance. Is their whiskey truly Irish and, if so, what determines that? The barley, the water, the wood? Blackwater will be using block-chain technology on every bottle of their double-distilled whiskey so that the customer can scan and see the full production journey, including their use of Irish grains. They’ll see where exactly they mature their spirit and the kind of wood they’re using. The customer will get complete transparency. That shouldn’t be such a radical idea, they suggest.

They’ve built their business from scratch and appear to have garnered a real sense of who they are and where they want to go in doing so. They’re ambitious for Irish whiskey and that’s just the fuel they need.

Boann Distillery

CONTACT: Boann Whiskey Distillery, Platin Road, Drogheda, County Meath

WEBSITE: boanndistillery.ie

DESCRIPTION: Working distillery and visitor centre. Tours daily.

There aren’t many distilleries in Ireland with a solid marble floor, but that was part of the luxury inheritance Boann received when they took up residence on their site in the Boyne valley, near Drogheda, on Ireland’s east coast. The building that held the site before the stills arrived was a high-end car showroom and the floor laid for its cash-rich customers was too good to lose, they say. But then, the family behind this distillery are no strangers to a high-quality finish. They’ve been involved in the drinks industry in Ireland for decades, running the Gleeson Group before setting up Boann’s parent company Na Cuana, which also has premium cider, cream liqueur, and craft beer brands in its stable.

Their beer brand bookends the distillery, and visitors to the Boann Distillery’s L-shaped building can continue their journey through the Boyne Brewhouse on the same site. Boann is named after an ancient Celtic female god, who is said to have created the nearby Boyne river, which carves out this historically important slice of the Irish landscape.

They currently use sourced whiskey as their own spirit matures, but you can expect experimental collaboration with their brewhouse in future releases. Plans to use their Imperial Stout casks in finishing their whiskey are already under way. With a close eye on the environment, the Italian engineers behind their stills have included enhanced reflux control on the neck to give better control over output, they say. Additionally, they reference the use of nanotechnology in the still design, creating the conditions for much greater interaction with the copper.

The location twenty-five minutes from Dublin Airport and just off a motorway exit means that the time-poor whiskey tourist eager to get out of Dublin is going to have Boann Distillery firmly in his or her sights.

They currently source whiskey for their Whistler range and aim to produce a future range of triple-distilled single malt and single pot stills under their own steam.

The Whistler: The Blue Note

Boann created the Whistler Collection using sourced whiskey in advance of their distillery opening in 2019. Building on their contacts from their years working in the wine trade, they sourced oloroso sherry casks to age this five-year-old single malt for a further two years. Bottled at 46 per cent and non-chill filtered, it won Gold at the 2017 World Whiskey Awards. Bottled at 46 per cent.

The Whistler: 10-year-old

The 10-year-old Whistler single malt is designed to be an even smoother, more elegant take on Whistler Blue Note. Matured in ex-bourbon casks and finished in oloroso, its sweetness is strengthened by its extra time in cask. Plenty of vanilla notes, fresh summer fruit flavours, and a distinctive finish. Bottled at 46 per cent and non-chill filtered. They also produced a cask-strength version of Whistler bottled at 59 per cent.

Bushmills Distillery

CONTACT: Bushmills Distillery, 2 Distillery Road, Bushmills, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, BT57 8XH

WEBSITE: bushmills.com

EMAIL: visitors.bushmills@bushmills.com

DESCRIPTION: Working distillery, visitor centre, café/bar, and shop

It’s often a surprise to whiskey drinkers to find a village surrounding the famous home of Bushmills whiskey, but the more than eighty listed buildings that shape the centre of this heritage site reflect the long-held position of Bushmills as a place of industry and success.

When water was the most bankable power source around, the mill’s pulling profit from the river Bush made the village a significant commercial success in this quiet corner of north Antrim, and the distillery grew from that. It’s from a tributary of the same river Bush, called St Columb’s Rill, that the Bushmills Distillery still takes its water today, and visitors marvel at how close they can get to a natural water source that is destined to be transformed into the core whiskeys that make up the Bushmills brand. Located just two kilometres from the dramatic Causeway Coast, the distillery receives more than 120,000 visitors a year, making it one of the most popular tourist destinations in the region.

Bushmills has changed hands many times over the centuries before current owners, Mexican liquor brand Jose Cuervos, took up residence. Its previous owner, Diageo, spent a reputed €100 million modernizing and enlarging the distillery before selling it on. Each change of ownership brought with it the promise of a continued future for the brand and the many local people who are involved in its creation. But, regardless of who has been in charge at any given time, the identity of this truly Irish and Northern Irish brand has never quite been weakened, bringing a rich and exciting layer of experience to the Irish whiskey story.

Bushmills Original

You’ll find Bushmills Original in just about any bar in Ireland, its gold and white label immediately familiar among the ever more crowded shelves of Irish whiskey. It’s a consistent award winner and its marriage of young grain with older, triple-distilled malt gives it a smooth creamy feel that makes it an excellent introduction to the Bushmills stable. Matured in ex-bourbon and sherry casks, you can expect vanilla and light fruit flavours. Bottled at 40 per cent.

Bushmills Red Bush

Red Bush is a recent arrival at Bushmills, having been introduced as recently as 2017. Originally aimed at the US market, it’s a blend of four-year-old grain whiskey matured in first-fill bourbon casks to capture a stronger bourbon feel. It has a similar vanilla, fruit flavour to the Original, but with a sweeter finish which lingers and dominates this new entry-level whiskey. It has a darker red colour, to match its title identity. Bottled at 40 per cent.

Bushmills Black Bush

Fans of Black Bush are wholly committed to their love of this great malt and grain blend. Known by some in Ireland as “Bushmills Liquor”, ordering a glass of Black Bush in a bar brings with it a hint of class that is often lacking in the identity of other Irish whiskeys. It gets its attractive dark colour from maturing in sherry casks and has a wonderful smoothness that underpins its rich, deep flavour. The blend is majority malt whiskey, aged up to 18 years. Bottled at 40 per cent.

Bushmills 10-year-old Single Malt

Triple-distilled, like all of the Bushmills family, this 100 per cent single malt is matured in bourbon and sherry casks for at least 10 years. It’s a signature product in the Bushmills range and cuts to the heart of what Bushmills is famous for – rich, warm, honeyed, satisfying flavours. Chocolate and vanilla dominate and create a wonderful profile for the first of a trio of superb single malts. Bottled at 40 per cent.

Bushmills 16-year-old Single Malt

Complexity of flavour dominates this 16-year-old single malt with a layer of drama that captures all the smoothness of the 10-year-old but is stuffed full of attractive, robust added flavours. Layers of spice, honey and nuts leave a long lingering flavour. The malt is aged in both bourbon and sherry casks for around 15 years and then brought together in a port cask for up to a year, creating sweet, fruity flavours that are elegant and distinguished. Bottled at 40 per cent.

Bushmills 21-year-old Single Malt

Bushmill’s top-of-the-range does not disappoint. All the rich, warm notes that define its malt heritage, underpinned by fruit, spice, nuts and toffee. It’s warm and inviting and captures a sense of the indulgence that all premium whiskeys aspire to. After 19 years in oloroso sherry and bourbon casks, the two resulting single malts are combined for an additional two years in Madeira. This combination of three woods creates a delicate marriage that is very satisfying. Bottled at 40 per cent.

Clonakilty Distillery

CONTACT: Clonakilty Distillery, The Waterfront, Clonakilty, West Cork

WEBSITE: clonakiltydistillery.ie

DESCRIPTION: Working distillery, visitor centre, and shop. Tours daily.

The family-run Clonakilty Distillery is a powerful new engine at the heart of this small County Cork town. This is a place that knows the value of a brand: it’s been the home of the secret-recipe Clonakilty black pudding since the 1880s. The young distillery founded by Michael and Helen Scully is, not surprisingly, ambitious to join its famous older neighbour in the pursuit of perfectly-balanced flavours that take root in the landscape around them.

The distillery’s story emerges at the point where the ocean meets the land surrounding the Galley Head lighthouse, 200 metres above the sea and a short drive from the town. It’s a dramatic location, with the wind and waves of the wild Atlantic testing each generation of the Scully family that has tried to pull a living from the ground here.

The family are eighth-generation farmers, who had attempted to diversify their business a number of times before realizing the value of the barley they were growing from earth seeped in Atlantic sea salt and sand. An idea of a craft whiskey captured their imagination, and grew rapidly into a €10 million waterfront distillery in the town and a bonded warehouse on their land at the coast.

Head distiller Paul Corbett returned to his home county from his role in Teeling Distillery in Dublin to oversee operations, and distilling began in March 2019. As they wait for their own triple-distilled single pot still spirit to mature they have launched the Clonakilty brand using sourced whiskey they have blended and matured.

Clonakilty Single Batch

This award-winning blend is the first whiskey to emerge under the Clonakilty brand and was finished in its Atlantic warehouse on their land on the coast. It’s a blend of eight-year-old grain and ten-year-old malt whiskey, matured in a bourbon cask, giving it that distinctive oakderived vanilla and caramel layer. It has a spicy finish that lingers, with notes of ginger and cumin. It won Double Gold at the San Francisco Spirits Competition in 2019. Bottled at 43.6 per cent.

Clonakilty Port Cask

The Port Cask version takes the same eight-year-old grain and ten-year-old malt as the Single Batch but is finished in a port cask, giving it a spicy edge and a rich dark red colour. With no artificial colours or flavours, it is already said to be very popular in the German market. It has that Christmas pudding flavour that chocolate lovers enjoy, with lots of dark fruits and warm lingering flavours. Bottled at 43.6 per cent.

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