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

profiles. Different wood types can also be introduced at this stage.

      The new make spirit that goes into a cask is a clear liquid. Its final identity, once it matures, is determined by the chemical reactions that occur between the wood of the cask and the spirit itself. Once bottled, ageing stops and the whiskey is complete but, until then, it’s a wonderfully slow and exciting part of the whiskey-making process.

      Anyone who journeys down the whiskey path is likely to become fascinated by this process, not least because it is an act of trust between the distiller and nature itself. The distiller and blender understand the process, choose the type of wood, and have an expectation of the result, but they can rarely predict the outcome with 100 per cent certainty. They simply have to wait and let the wood do its work.

Location Maps

Northern Ireland

      Numbers in bold indicate the page where the property can be found

      The page numbers on this map relate to the printed version of this book; they do not match the pages of your ebook. You can use your ebook reader’s search tool to find a specific word or passage.

West Central Ireland

      Numbers in bold indicate the page where the property can be found

      The page numbers on this map relate to the printed version of this book; they do not match the pages of your ebook. You can use your ebook reader’s search tool to find a specific word or passage.

Southwestern Ireland

      Numbers in bold indicate the page where the property can be found

      The page numbers on this map relate to the printed version of this book; they do not match the pages of your ebook. You can use your ebook reader’s search tool to find a specific word or passage.

East Central Ireland

      The page numbers on this map relate to the printed version of this book; they do not match the pages of your ebook. You can use your ebook reader’s search tool to find a specific word or passage.

Southeastern Ireland

      Numbers in bold indicate the page where the property can be found

      The page numbers on this map relate to the printed version of this book; they do not match the pages of your ebook. You can use your ebook reader’s search tool to find a specific word or passage.

Achill Island Distillery

      CONTACT: Drioglann Oilean Acla, Bunnacurry, Achill Island, County Mayo

      WEBSITE: irishamericanwhiskeys.com

      DESCRIPTION: Working distillery

      A red carpet and Scottish bagpipes heralded the arrival of two copper stills on Achill Island in September 2018 from Speyside in Scotland, where they were manufactured. Drioglann Oilean Acla, as their new home is officially named in the Irish language, is the first distillery to open on an island here. It also lies within the Gaeltacht, that part of Ireland where Irish is still the first language. Owned by the Irish American Trading Company, the distillery and its visitor centre will form part of the fledgling Gaeltacht Distillery Trail, as well as being a major tourist attraction in its own right.

      These days, Achill is often approached along the 42 km greenway, which links the Atlantic island to Westport in County Mayo. The greenway was built along the route of a disused railway line and is a hugely popular cycling and walking trail, which cuts through some of the most dramatic landscape in the country.

      The Irish American Trading Company, a family-owned business founded by John McKay in 2014, with offices in Dublin and Boston, invested some €4 million in the project. Its master distiller, David Hynes, is also a director of the Great Northern Distillery. Currently, they use sourced whiskey to produce their two whiskeys, which are already available in twenty-six US States.

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.