Irish Whiskey
Ballykeefe Distillery is situated in the heartland of Ireland, adjacent to its medieval capital, Kilkenny city.Connacht Distillery
The Connacht Distillery in the wilds of county Mayo.
The Connacht Distillery sits on the banks of the beautiful River Moy, in the ruggedly wild and beautiful county Mayo. It sits just outside the charming town of Ballina, on the site of the old Duffy family bakery. From bread to whiskey this site has always had a true Irish aroma about it. Here a dream held by the Stapletons, three American and one Irish came into fruition. The Stapeltons wished to bring distilling back to one of the most natural and unspoiled regions of Ireland.
The Stills
Robert Cassell, their master distiller and co-founder, custom designed their stills in order to create the essence from the west; which once tried, the memories from this liquid last. Connacht is very active distillery from once the grain is delivered they are busy preparing their mash to then fermenting, distilling, maturing and finally bottling their liquid gold. It has been more than a hundred years since the west distilled pot still and single malt whiskey’s. The Connacht distillery has the unique coastal location to mature their wild whiskey’s giving a beautiful tone to their whiskey.
Visitors Centre
As like many, they have a visitors centre where you can start your interactive tour. After which you can taste though their selection of spirits in their custom built bar. A bar which was hand-crafted from re-purposed timber flooring from Dublin’s Boland Mills. These historic floors, upon which our Irish patriots stood and battled British soldiers during the 1916 Easter Rising; thus bringing a little extra Irish history to their distillery; Ireland’s Taoiseach and local Mayo man Enda Kenny offically opened the distillery in October 2015. “I am delighted that the craft of whiskey-making is returning to the West of Ireland” Enda kenny.
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The Connacht Distillery Whiskey Collection.
Pearse Lyons Distillery
Pearse Lyons Distillery in St. James Church on St. James Street
Kilbeggan Whiskey Distillery
Kilbeggan Whiskey Distillery, Ireland’s oldest licenced distillery in Ireland’s ancient east.
[Read more…] about Kilbeggan Whiskey DistilleryDublin Liberties Whiskey Distillery
Dublin Liberties Whiskey Distillery in Dublin’s Historic Liberties Distilling District
Dublin Liberties Distillery is in the heart of the historic whiskey district in the Liberties in Dublin’s fair city; an area known for “notorious mayhem and riotous behaviour for hundreds of years.” An ideal spot for a group with a little devilish temperament to set up and distil some elegant whiskeys. These whiskey’s acknowledge the dark history that is all around Dublin but rarely spoken of.
[Read more…] about Dublin Liberties Whiskey DistilleryDingle Whiskey Distillery
The Dingle Whiskey Distillery in a Gaeltacht in the southwest of Ireland.
Midleton Whiskey Distillery
Midleton Whiskey Distillery In County Cork
The Midleton Distillery is a giant of Irish distilling, an iconic producer of some of the Ireland’s best loved whiskey’s. Originally founded in 1825 when brothers James, Daniel and Jeremiah Murphy bought an old wool mill, and began the task of turning it into the home of Irish distilling, since then they never looked back.
Production
In 1830 they were producing 400,000 litres of alcohol per year, which back then was considered a substantial production, fast forward to today where they are producing an astonishing 64 million litres of alcohol per year. Thankfully due to their location they have had plenty of room to expand to grow production and maturation facilities. Midleton’s proximity to barley farmers and freshwater has aided their field to glass production.
Midleton
Midleton distillery is located in the south of Ireland in county Cork, thirteen miles from Cork city. They are leaders in the quintessential style that is Pot still whiskey. Loved the world over, they have been know to play around and discover new and intriguing blends. The addition of new styles has been even more possible with the addition of their micro distillery, primarily used to experiment and trail new ideas, such as the very successful Method and Madness collection.
Visit
A visit to Midleton is a fascinating journey to see not only the distillery but the world’s largest pot still, sadly not in use but that does allow you to take many selfies. Do pop into their visitors centre to begin your trail through Irish whiskey where the rich heritage will come to life. Midleton have their very own whiskey academy located on the grounds of the distillery. The Academy run courses from one to three days, perfect for those who have a desire for even more knowledge.
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Midleton Whiskey Collection
Jameson Distillery Bow Street Distillery
Jameson Distillery Bow Street Dublin City
Jameson distillery was founded in 1780 on Bow street, next to the infamous Smithfield market square. John Jameson was distillery manger of the former Bow Street distillery before buying and expanding it. By 1810 it was renamed Jameson Distillery and grew to over five acres by 1886.
Old Jameson
Jameson distillery was considered a city within a city, which housed copper-smiths, engineers and carpenters within their walls. The distillery was a hive of activity, producing some of the world’s favourite whiskey. Sadly by 1971 Jameson had to bow out of distilling in Dublin. Jameson joined forces with West Cork distillers and John Powers and son, to form what we know today as Irish Distillers, located in the beautiful countryside of county Cork.
Visitors Centre
Jameson’s former distillery was eventually turned into a visitors centre, regaling people about Ireland’s history in whiskey. Jameson Bow Street have welcomed many from far and wide with open arms. Jameson have since revamped the old distillery and made it even more interactive. Today Jameson will explore the history of whiskey with you on their whiskey experience tour. Jameson also offer further options to joining one their fun whiskey blending masterclasses or perhaps getting your grove on with the whiskey cocktail session and become mixologist.
Bow Street – Active Once Again
Jameson, Bow street can now say, that once again, they are an active distillery. The Jameson distillery is the only distillery in Dublin to mature their whiskey on-site. The beating heart of Jameson is once again bringing more life to Smithfield. Jameson celebrated by releasing one of the first whiskey’s that finished its maturation in Bow street. The Jameson 18 year old Bow Street cask strength whiskey stormed onto the scene. This whiskey is particularly beautiful whiskey, enjoyed by many, least not by the team here at Irish Whiskey Tours.
Sláinte agus go n-éirí an bóthar leat!