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Inishowen Irish Whiskey

Alfred Barnard’s 1887 book ‘The Whisky Distilleries Of The United Kingdom’ listed 28 distilleries on the island of Ireland.

At the time they constituted the largest and biggest selling whisky manufacturers in the world.

The reasons for their dramatic decline in the decades that followed are still hotly debated today.

Abbey Street in Derry was one of the distilleries A Barnard visited.

Run by the Watt family, Abbey St installed one of the earliest Coffey stills ever used and had a trio of popular brands; The Tyrconnell, Favourite and Inishowen.

By 1925 however, it was all over. Abbey St closed it’s doors and very little now remains of the former impressive facility.

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‘The Lost Distilleries of Ireland’ by Brian Townsend is a good source of information on Abbey Street Distillery. 

Inishowen, in the shape of a double distilled peated blend, did resurface in the 1990’s.

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Cooley Distillery in Co Louth, 1 of only 3 whiskey distilleries operating then, released the brand.

To many it signifies the rebirth of Irish Whiskey fortunes.

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Sadly now discontinued. Inishowen is a reminder of the past glories of Irish Whiskey, as well as the potential future yet to come.

Savour the rich history with every drop.

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All images courtesy Casks Away

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Gelston’s Irish Whiskey

Gelston’s Irish Whiskey is a relatively new brand of Irish Whiskey celebrating a long family history based in Belfast.

Originally founded in 1830 by Samual Gelston, a successful wine and whiskey merchant, the business passed into the hands of the HJ Neill family whose descendents have brought this brand back to life.

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Comprising a wide range of single malt whiskeys finished in select barrels starting from a non age statement (NAS) offering,

Right up to a 26 year old cask strength ex-bourbon cask matured single malt,

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Gelston’s have a whiskey to suit all tastes, and wallets!

The whiskey is sourced from undisclosed Irish Whiskey Distilleries. Frank McHardy has assisted with the development of this brand, which should give some clues as to it’s origin!

Gelston’s are part of the Halewood International portfolio.

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Header image courtesy Yard Gallery here.

Bottle images courtesy Gelston’s website here.

Halewood International website here.

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Velvet Cap Irish Whiskey

Velvet Cap was a whiskey brand of Thomas Power & Co, a local drinks bottler and supplier in Dungarvan, Co Waterford. See Blackwater blog here for further information.

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Up to the 1960’s many a local grocer, bar or bonder sourced whiskey from various distilleries and matured it in wooden casks before selling it on under their own brand names.

Blackwater Distillery in Ballyduff, Co Waterford have revived this tradition, along with the Velvet Cap name, with this latest release.

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Velvet Cap is a blend of malt and grain whiskey obtained from Great Northern Distillery. It’s then finished in a variety of casks to produce a fine tasting whiskey.

Blackwater Distillery are also laying down their own spirit for future releases and will be allowing visitors into the distillery soon.

Casks Away is ready and waiting to take you there.

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Header image courtesy Buzz.ie here.

Thomas Power picture courtesy easyliveauction here.

Peter Mulryan image courtesy fft.ie here.

Blackwater Distillery web page here.

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Wayward Irish Spirits

Wayward Irish Spirits are newcomers to the current Irish Whiskey scene, but they have a proud family tradition of being in the drinks trade!

Aiming to be the most gorgeously situated single estate Irish Whiskey Distillery using grains grown on the Lakeview Estate in County Kerry, Wayward Irish Spirits recently launched The Liberator Irish Whiskey.

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A blended malt Irish Whiskey finished in Tawny Port Casks in Kerry.

Estate grown grain is already being sown to make a pot still whiskey.

The owners of the Estate are direct descendants of Daniel O’Connell aka ‘The Liberator’ after whom both the whiskey and the company name emanates from.

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Casks Away looks forward to taking you to the stunning scenery of Lakeview Estate to visit the blending rooms, maturation sites and ultimately, the grain to glass distillery of Wayward Irish Spirits.

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Photos courtesy Wayward Irish Spirits facebook page here, twitter site here and website here.

Bottle image courtesy Celtic Whiskey Shop here.

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Origin Spirits Ireland Ltd

Even during the COVID19 Lockdown new and innovative Irish Whiskey brands are still being released to the market.

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One of the most unusual and well received incarnations was the Currach Irish Single Malt.

To my knowledge at least, it’s the 1st Irish Whiskey to be finished in Atlantic Kombu Seaweed Casks!

That’s right. Seaweed!

Despite what many may think, seaweed has actually long been used as a food ingredient.

The brand makers at Origin Spirits teamed up with West Cork Distillers to create this unique single malt whiskey.

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They carefully dried out the Atlantic Kombu Seaweed before placing it in used bourbon casks and proceeded to char the casks with this unusual ingredient.

The results are a lovely silky smooth whiskey with a touch of sea salt, rich umami flavours often giving meaty, BBQ type notes and a lovely peppery finish.

Origin Spirits create other innovative drinks with their Kalak Vodka

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and Ornabrack Gin range.

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Well worth a try.

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All bottle images courtesy Celtic Whiskey Shop here.

Other images courtesy Currach Whiskey twitter site here,  and facebook page here.

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Portmagee Whiskey

Portmagee Whiskey is a relatively new brand.

There are future plans to build a distillery in the attractive Kerry village of Portmagee on the Wild Atlantic Way.

In the meantime they are trying to raise the profile of their Portmagee Whiskey, as well as create a tourist attraction in the village the whiskey is named after.

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image @cathalfleming

Tied in with the whiskey is the rich maritime history of both fishing and smuggling in the area.

An entertaining podcast on the project is available from Radio Kerry here.

Casks Away looks forward to escorting you to the shores of the Wild Atlantic Way and sharing in a glass of Portmagee Whiskey!

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All images courtesy Portmagee Whiskey website here, facebook page here, and twitter site here.

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The Quiet Man Distillery

Sadly, despite the best efforts of those involved, not all Irish Whiskey Distilleries succeed.

Quiet Man Distillery in Derry is one.

Announced with great expectations to build on the historic Ebrington Square area of the city by Niche Drinks here in early 2017.

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By late 2018 the BBC were saying it was all over here.

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It’s better to have an impossible dream than no dream at all.

Luckily for Irish Whiskey fans the Quiet Man range of whiskeys are still going strong.

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I’ll drink to that!

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Images courtesy of The Spirits Business here, BBC News here  and Quiet Man Whiskey facebook here.

The Quiet Man Whiskey website here.

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The Irishman Whiskey

The Irishman Whiskey collection is a whiskey brand created by Bernard and Rosemary Walsh in the mid 2000’s.

Comprising of a blend, single malts and single cask releases with great finishes, the brand has captured the hearts of many drinkers.

Buoyed by the success of the whiskey a plan to build a new distillery in the green fields of County Carlow was initiated in 2014 and began distilling in 2016.

The popular Writers’ Tears brand was also added to the portfolio of Walsh Whiskey.

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The distillery was a partnership between Walsh Whiskey and international drinks company Illva Saronno.

Early in 2019 a split was announced in the partnership.

Walsh Whiskey will continue with their Irishman and Writer’s Tears brands, while Illva Saronno will have full control of the distillery which has now been rebranded as Royal Oak Distillery. See Casks Away blog here.

A new Writers’ Tears release was announced in April 2019.

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Writers’ Tears Marsala Cask

There has not yet been any release from Royal Oak Distillery.

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All images courtesy Walsh Whiskey website here and twitter page here.

 

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Knappogue Castle Whiskey

Knappogue Castle Whiskey are an Irish Whiskey brand releasing a fine range of age statemented single malts.

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Owned by the Castle Brands group who hold an impressive world wide portfolio of drinks including another range of Irish Whiskeys under the Clontarf Whiskey label.

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Knappogue Castle itself is a 15th Century Castle set in the picturesque countryside of County Clare in Ireland’s West. Owned by members of the Castle Brands group Knappogue Castle is open to visitors. Occasional banquets are held too!

Follow the link here for further information about Knappogue Castle events.

Knappogue Castle & Clontarf Whiskey are available widely around the world.

They both represent Ireland’s rich historical and cultural past in a modern bottle of whiskey today.

Enjoy!

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All images courtesy Knappogue Castle and Irish2Core media sites here and here.

 

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Hyde Irish Whiskey

Hyde Irish Whiskey have attracted a lot of controversy over the wording on their bottles of whiskey and website here.

They do not have a distillery of their own but blend and finish sourced Irish whiskeys to their own specifications.

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Generally presented non chill filtered at natural colour with interesting wood finishes, Casks Away has always found Hyde Whiskey to be a very agreeable drinking experience across their extensive range.

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All images courtesy Hyde twitter page here.