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Ahascragh Distillery

Ahascragh Distillery in County Galway is part of the next generation of Irish Whiskey Distilleries that are re-energising the proud and long heritage of uisce beatha.

Founded by Gareth and Michelle McAllister the distillery is currently (January 2022) being built around the old landmark property of Ahascragh Mill.

By following Ahascragh Distillery social media sites you can access regular updates as to the progress of this ambitious venture.

In the meantime sourced spirits have been blended and packaged by Ahascragh Distillery in advance of their own produce and include Xin Gin, Clan Colla Whiskey and Uais Irish Whiskey.

Available in several local bars in Ahascragh village itself, Casks Away is ready to take you there to view the building works, enjoy a snack in the Old Mill Shop & Cafe and perhaps sample a few of their fine whiskey beside the distillery itself!

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All images courtesy Ahascragh Distillery website here.

Ahascragh Distillery twitter here, Instagram here and facebook here.

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Titanic Distillers, Belfast

Despite the COVID pandemic, Irish Whiskey is showing remarkable resilience with continued announcements of new brands and distillery projects proceeding apace.

One of those, Titanic Distillers in Belfast, (see The Spirits Business link here) piqued my interest as it involves a bit of a story.

Peter Lavery courtesy Irish Times

The story begins with a lucky individual winning the lottery, Peter Lavery, back in 1996. (Irish Times link here)

Apart from buying the fancy cars and luxury holidays, Peter also released some whiskey brands. Titanic and Danny Boy being the most noticeable.

Titanic Irish Whiskey courtesy thewhiskeyexchange

Launched in May 2011, (launch link here) Titanic Whiskey gained a lot of attention and sold widely. By December 2011 events took a bit of a twist. Beam bought out the Cooley/Kilbeggan operations run by John Teeling. (Sale link here) At one fell swoop the source of Titanic’s whiskey (and others too, see link here) was turned off and stocks began to dwindle.

Undeterred, a plan to build a distillery in the historic Crumlin Gaol under the Belfast Distillery Company (BDC) name was started in 2013. (BDC link here)

Then all went quiet.

Rumours abounded, but nothing confirmed,then in 2019 a bottle of McConnell’s Whisky appeared!

McConnells Whisky Courtesy Celtic Whiskey Shop

The Belfast Distillery Company was alive and well under new ownership (Conecuch Brands link here) with Mr Lavery nowhere to be seen.

Some of the folks involved in the original BDC plan later resurfaced at Hinch Distillery (link to my blog here) in County Down.

Hinch Whiskey courtesy Hinch

But what of Mr Lavery?

Well in late 2020 a group lodged a planning proposal to turn the old Pump House beside the original Titanic Docks into a whiskey distillery.

Titanic Distillery plans courtesy Irish News

Here’s hoping it’s third time lucky for the irrepressible Peter Lavery!

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All photos courtesy sources credited below images.

Titanic Distillers header image courtesy Titanic Distillers website here.

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Baoileach Distillery, Donegal.

Baoileach Distillery is truly a boutique operation crafting spirits of quality with a direct fired copper pot still in a stone cottage in beautiful Donegal.

Casks Away unfortunately hasn’t been able to visit this exciting distillery due to the COVID pandemic.

Baoileach have released a Mulroy Bay Poitín,

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and Mulroy Bay Gin,

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as well as an interesting barrel aged (up to 10 weeks is allowed under the rules here) poitín too!

A trip to Donegal awaits!

Contact Casks Away if you wish to come along.

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Image of Baoileach Distillery courtesy Baoileach twitter site here and website here.

Bottle images courtesy Celtic Whiskey Shop here.

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West Cork Distillers

West Cork Distillers have quietly built up the largest wholly Irish owned whiskey distillery operations in Ireland.

Founded in Union Hall in 2003 by three childhood friends, the business now occupies a large site in Skibbereen and is capable of producing 4 million litres of pure alcohol a year.

All styles of Irish Whiskey are made, Single Grain, Single Malt, Single Pot Still and Blended.

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West Cork not only release under their own brand.

They also contract distill for many other customers.

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Striving to use Irish grown grain they regularly use Irish wheat rather than the imported corn or maize many other distilleries use.

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A visitors centre is scheduled to open in 2020.

Casks Away looks forward to taking you there – when it is safe to do so.

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All images courtesy West Cork Distillers website here, facebook page here and twitter site here.

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Waterford Distillery

Due to the COVID19 pandemic this event has been postponed until Saturday 5th September.

The long awaited inaugural release from the category defining Waterford Distillery is happening on Saturday 25th April 5th September.

Casks Away will be there and is offering a return transport service for 7  6 keen whiskey fans.

Contact info@casksaway.ie to book your seats. Events page here.

Building itself on the founding pillars of provenance, biodynamics and terroir, Waterford Distillery (website here) has built up much anticipation for it’s ‘Where Barley Is King’ approach.

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The Pilgrimage Single Malt Whiskey will be available to purchase at the Open Day.

Prospective attendees must book their tickets in advance via Waterford Distillery’s eventbrite page here.

It remains to be seen how the whiskey community will react to the first tastings of this highly sought after release.

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Founder Mark Reynier and his team have built up a much lauded reputation both within the wine and whisky industry during his time at La Reserve Fine Wines and Bruichladdich Distillery.

Casks Away looks forward to a successful future at Waterford Distillery.

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Irish Times article on Mark Reynier here.

Photos in text courtesy Waterford Distillery facebook site here.

Header image courtesy Casks Away.

 

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Tipperary Distillery

Tipperary Distillery (website here) is very much a family business grown out of a long association with the whisky industry combined with a strong farming tradition.

Father Stuart has managed many a Scottish whisky distillery.

Daughter Jennifer gained her appreciation of whisky growing up in distilleries!

Son-in-law Liam is a 5th generation barley grower.

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Together they launched  the Tipperary Boutique Whiskey selection a few years ago, as well as a subsequent selection of sourced cask finished single malts, while plans for their own distillery were being finalised.

The distillery was originally intended to be built on the family farm in Ballindoney, but a tie in with Dundrum House Hotel  (website here) near Cashel, now sees works being carried out to create Ireland’s first Whiskey Hotel.

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There is no indication of a completion date as yet, but Casks Away is eager to ferry the first visitors to this unique distillery when ready.

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All images courtesy Tipperary Distillery facebook page here and twitter site here.

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Tullamore Distillery

There has been whiskey distilling in Tullamore for over 200 years.

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The Old Bonded Warehouse, where Tullamore DEW Whiskey Tours start from (website here), attractively situated on the banks of the Grand Canal, are part of the original 1829 B Daly Distillery from which the new Tullamore Distillery, located on a turf bog a few kms outside the town, still continues the tradition.

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Built in 2014, Tullamore Distillery is owned by William Grant & Sons of Scotland. It has the ability to produce all four styles of Irish Whiskey: single grain, single malt, single pot still and blended whiskey. Tullamore’s own distillate is now making it’s way into the popular triple distilled, triple blended Tullamore DEW range.

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Tours of Tullamore Distillery are available on a weekly basis, Old Bonded Warehouse tours are conducted daily.

Why not let Casks Away escort you there in conjunction with other prominent whiskey distilleries active in the Heart Of Ireland.

info@casksaway.ie

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All whiskey images courtesy Tullamore DEW twitter site here. Other images courtesy Cask Away.

Tullamore Dew website here.

William Grant & Sons website here.

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Teeling Whiskey Distillery

When Teeling Whiskey Distillery opened it’s doors back in 2015, website here, it marked the return of Irish Whiskey Distilling to Dublin after an absence of nearly 50 years.

Founded by Jack and Stephen Teeling, sons of the famous John Teeling, they assembled an experienced team of players, as well as plenty of maturing whiskey stocks, after the buyout of Killbeggan and Cooley Distilleries to Beam back in 2011. Irish Times article here.

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Head Distiller Alex Chasko

A fabulous visitors experience has been built around the working distillery, capable of producing a half million litres of alcohol per year.

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Some Teeling Whiskey

A wide and varied selection of award winning single malts, blends and single grains have been released from those initial stocks, as well as the first single pot still made in Dublin for a long time.

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Teeling Single Pot Still

Located in the vibrant Liberties area of Dublin, Teeling Whiskey Distillery is a must see of any Casks Away Whiskey Tour of Ireland’s capital city.

Contact info@casksaway.ie to book your tour.

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All images courtesy of Teeling Facebook page here, and Twitter site here.

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The Crolly Distillery

The Crolly Distillery are finalising their vision to open a whiskey distillery on the site of the famous Crolly Doll Factory in Donegal.

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The copper pot stills are in situ and will be the first to produce whiskey in Donegal for over 180 years.

A visitors centre is also being opened to welcome tourists from far and wide to this stunningly scenic area of Ireland.

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A cask buyers club can be found on the Crolly Distillery (website here) for those interested in investing in this exciting venture.

Casks Away would like to invite you on a trip to sample the sights, sounds and fabulous aromas of this distillery when fully open.

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Contact info@casksaway.ie to book your trip.

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All images courtesy of The Crolly Distillery webpage here and Twitter site here.

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The Shed Distillery

From the ‘Curious Mind’ of P.J. Rigney and The Shed Distillery in Lovely Leitrim comes a trio of well crafted spirits.

First off the stills was Gunpowder Irish Gin.

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Then Sausage Tree Pure Irish Vodka.

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And recently The Inaugural Release Drumshanbo Whiskey.

A Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey using a mixed mash of malted and unmalted barley together with some oats.

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All three are presented in exquisitly designed bottles and packaging.

All three are liquids of high quality and have been extremely well received in their respective categories.

A new visitors centre for the distillery is expected to open later in 2020.

Casks Away would love to take a group of fans to the Inaugural Opening to experience the fruits of that ‘Curious Mind’.

Contact Casks Away at info@casksaway.ie to book your seat.

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All images courtesy The Shed Distillery Twitter site here.