Irish Whiskey Review - The Definitive Guide to all things Whisky, Scotch, Bourbon NOT just Irish!

John Lamond
Master of Malt
mobile: +44 (7767) 635791

Whisky Man of the Year 2011 AND 2012

Best Spirits Course 2017: The Scotch Whisky Trail Certificate Course

International Whisky Educator of the Year 2021

 When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.

Henry Youngman 

Poitín Now – The world’s first and only Poitín Conference and Tasting event.

Taking place in The Complex venue in Dublin City centre on the 18 th and 19 th November 2022.

that quickly summarizes story.

DUBLIN, 12 September 2022— Poitín Now marks a watershed moment in the Irish Spirits

industry. For too long, Poitín, despite being our National Spirit, has been largely ignored

despite being legal to distill for sale in Ireland since 1997.

In recent years a growing number of Irish distilleries have taken Poitín to a whole new level

and are now producing what can only be described as world class spirits.

Now it’s time to put this uniquely Irish spirit centre stage and Poitín Now aims to do just

that over the coming years. It’s time for Poitín to take it’s place on bar shelves and in glasses

across the world.

The Conference and Tasting Event will bring distillers, cocktail producers, bars, and industry

experts under the same roof for the first time. Expect delicious drinks, lively discussion and

debate as we bring Poitín to you as has never been done before.

Come join us in November and allow us to introduce you to a whole new world of Irish

spirits.

 Meet the distillers and learn what goes into making quality Poitín

 Sample a diverse range of Poitín from across the island of Ireland

 Taste exceptional Poitín based cocktails

 Bar hosted by Bar 1661, recently voted bar of the year 2022

 Purchase exclusive Poitín releases

 World’s largest Poitín collection on display

 Live Final of the Mad March Hare Poitín Cocktail final

“The time is now for Poitín. An event like this wouldn’t have been possible 5 or 10 years ago

as the depth of quality in the category wasn’t there. Now, in 2022, there is an increasing

number of distillers producing high quality Poitín as well as recent releases of bottled and

Ready To Drink (RTD) Poitín cocktails. To top it off, Bar 1661in Dublin, specialists in Poitín

cocktails, recently won Bar of the Year 2022. Poitín is coming out of the shadows.”

Francis Leavey (Founder of Poitin Now)

About Poitín Now

Poitín Now recognises the potential for this spirit category to expand year on year. Rich in

Irish tradition and heritage it represents the next big growth area for the the Irish drinks

industry.

Twitter: @poitinnow Instagram: @poitinnow Facebook: @poitinnow

Inspited by our land and the many generations before us and their sometimes wayward attitude, Wayward Irish Spirits is working towards becoming Ireland’s most beautifully situated premium Single Estate, grain to glass, distillery. We are located outside Killarney at the Lakeview Estate, our family’s home of 900 years. Unusually, we grow our own barley here that is distilled for us into Lakeview Single Estate Whiskey, launching in 2022. Distilling onsite follows in 2024.

Alongside this, The Liberator Irish Whiskey is our range of Whiskeys sourced as young spirit from 6 of Ireland’s finest distilleries. We mature these further in the Estate’s unique microclimate, then finish and blend them in small batches to create unique flavourful Whiskeys. We carefully source and fill only the finest and freshest casks connecting with our family history for our 300 year old stone bonded Storehouse ‘The House of Contentment’. This is our modern take on the old Irish tradition of Whiskey Bonding – before the advent of big brands, merchants would refill emptied wine, port and sherry barrels with spirit from their local distillery to provide ‘house Whiskeys’ for their customers.

Our first releases are Ireland’s first vatted malt Whiskey which we’ve finished in really fresh Tawny Port casks – The Liberator Malt in Tawny Port and a lighter characterful premium blend, The Liberator Small Batch. Every year we have some Liberator Storehouse Specials – these are very small releases of interesting Whiskeys from our Storehouse and can be trials for new products, single cask releases or cask strength versions. All are gently cut over many weeks, not chill filtered or coloured or otherwise messed with.

The Liberator celebrates the legacy of our forebear Daniel O’Connell, the original campaigner for human rights, regardless of race, gender or religion and often hailed as the greatest ever Irishman, after whom many streets, bridges and buildings throughout Ireland is named. His passionate oratory and insistence on peaceful protest mobilised millions to ensure Irish voices were heard for the first time. From a noble family of traders and warriors, poets and smugglers, this determination to do things our own way informs everything we do.

Campbeltown was once the whisky capital of the world with 29 distilleries operating simultaneously in 1835. How had this remote fishing port and royal burgh become the epicentre of Scotland's greatest export? David Stirk reveals all in this engaging and well illustrated insight into the people who were the movers and shakers behind this huge industry. The origins lie in illicit distilling which was prevalent all over Kintyre in the late 18th century. Many women were involved in this business which made many ordinary folk very wealthy and out of these origins, the legal trade was established in 1817 with Campbeltown Distillery being the first of many. Over the course of the next two decades every street and corner in the burgh had a distillery or brewery built on it. The names were redolent of Kintyre history and placenames: Kinloch, Caledonian, Dalaruan, Lochhead, Longrow, Meadowburn, Burnside, Kintyre, Rieclachan, Union, Argyll, Glenramskill, Highland, Springbank and Albyn, to name only some. It is no idle boast that Campbeltown was the Victorian whisky capital of the world and just as great schemes rise, so do they fall. Ultimately the town's prosperity waned with the Great War, the depression, prohibition in the USA and the failure of local coal seams. Now only Springbank, Glen Scotia and Glen Gyle remain in production, solitary reminders of the once great whisky days of this Royal Burgh.

Plus we take a look at auction prices

Jake Clements