Thanks to all IWSA Members for a fun and successful 2024. We will be celebrating our 15th anniversary in 2025! Before we look ahead to what's planned for this year we wanted to take one last look back at everything that went on in 2024.

2024 was another year of double digit % membership growth. We expanded across the USA with the addition of new members in North Dakota and Hawaii. Now there are only 7 remaining states without IWSA members (AK, AR, IA, NM, SD, UT, WY). If you have friends or family living in these states we would love to have them join our club. Our goal for 2025 is not just growth but increased participation by existing Lifetime members. The ability to offer events and bottlings from Irish Whiskey companies is dependent on member engagement. Reach out if you have ideas or interests that we can tailor our activities around for 2025. 

A 2024 IWSA highlight was the release of our 2nd club Limited Edition collaboration Irish Whiskey bottling. Next Parish Over was our 6yr Single Malt expression from the Jack Ryan Whiskey Company. Named in honor of our club's Boston origin in 2010, the whiskey was also unique for its Grenache wine finishing, a first for Irish Whiskey. After its August release, we hosted a Virtual member Bottle Opening event with Wayne Curran from Jack Ryan Whiskey to discuss Next Parish Over.  There are still bottles available so members are encouraged to acquire this unique release. Use your IWSA member discount for IrishMalts to get this Limited Edition before its gone.

In May, IWSA members ventured to Ireland for our 2nd annual group trip. During our stay in beautiful Galway city, we visited several distilleries, pubs, and points of interest in the area before ending our trip in Dublin for WhiskeyLive. Read all about our itinerary and trip adventures:

We hosted 7 Virtual Member Events during 2024. In January we revealed the 2023 Izzy Favorites during our Live Awards Show. In February, we got in the Valentine's Day spirit with our Sweet Singles event featuring Knappogue Castle whiskey with different chocolates. In March, we celebrated Irish Whiskey Day with our favorite whiskeys. In April, we learned about Irish history through whiskeys in our Fighting Irish event. In July, we celebrated the opening of the McConnell's Distillery in Belfast with their Brand Ambassador and core brand whiskeys. In September, we celebrated the release of Next Parish Over with Wayne Curran from Jack Ryan Whiskey. Finally, in November, we celebrated the US launch of Clonakilty Distillery's first distilled whiskey, their single pot still.  

The 3rd annual 2024 IWSA (Izzy) Awards launched in November with nominees revealed in 12 different categories. The 60 nominees were revealed during a video recording. Read about the Izzys, the 2024 nominees for Favorite, and the related event video. The 12 Favorites along with the Legacy Favorite chosen by IWSA president were then revealed in a Live Virtual Event. See the results or watch the event video.