Irish Whiskey News & Stories

A wonderful new book was released just in time for the 2022 year end holidays. "Experiencing Irish Whiskey" was written by Drew Hannush, best selling author and host of the Whiskey Lore podcast.  The book is a travel guide to Ireland with particular focus on the burgeoning Irish whiskey industry. To "research" for the book, Drew spent many weeks traveling Ireland and visiting Irish whisky distilleries. (To say I'm jealous would be an understatement.) What resulted is a chronicle educating about Irish whiskey history, how best to drink whiskey, travel tips around Ireland, and profiles of the distilleries.   This book...

WHY IT’S BEEN A MOMENTOUS YEAR FOR SLIABH LIAG DISTILLERS written by Rachel McLaughlin  December 11, 2022 2022 was an exciting year for the Sliabh Liag Distillers team as they continued on their journey to reclaim Donegal’s distilling heritage. As well as celebrating international accolades for The Legendary Silkie Irish Whiskey range, the company filled their 500th cask and found a new home with the opening of the Ardara Distillery to the public in July.    The Ardara Distillery is a full-scale whiskey distillery built to help meet the forecast of the doubling of the Irish whiskey market by 2023; it has...

Irish whiskeys had their best showing ever in the annual Whisky Advocate Top 20 List. For 2022, five Irish whiskeys were listed with three making the top 10! The Whisky Advocate List is based on: Our Top 20 is a selection of whiskies worthy of your attention. The list includes great values that might otherwise be overlooked, whiskies that are best in class for their style, and highly accomplished bottles you should be looking for. Most importantly, each of these whiskies generates excitement and marks a highlight across a year of tasting. The five Irish whiskeys to make the list...

Bushmills is making up for lost time with new core expressions and super premium releases. Can we call it a comeback? In the early days of the Irish Whiskey Society America, we often lamented (along with others in the industry) the lack of activity coming from Bushmills. While the Irish whiskey scene was booming with new distilleries and products, Bushmills was relatively quiet by comparison despite being an industry leader. With new owners, Bushmills is now making their presence felt by leaning on their storied history and quantity of aged single malt inventory.  Ironically, their relative absence during the early...

The legendary Celtic punk band "The Pogues" have a storied history of live performances, storytelling, and alcohol related exploits. Every year around the holidays one of their more popular songs receives increased airplay. To this day, "Fairytale of New York" is still the most played holiday song in the U.K. 35 years after its release. If enjoying a drink of the band's namesake Irish whiskey while listening to this song over the holidays, have a read about its origin. The Story and Meaning Behind The Pogues’ Drunken Holiday Classic “Fairytale Of New York” BY TINA BENITEZ-EVES It was Christmas Eve babe...