Irish Whiskey News & Stories

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...

Carol Quinn is the archivist with Irish Distillers.  This recent article in the Irish Examiner is timely as it follows our "Celebration of Powers" event in November which featured Carol. Our videos from that event as well as the complete interview with Carol are located on the IWSA website and YouTube channel. Archivist is very proud to help preserve history of Irish distilling SAT, 17 DEC, 2022 - 11:05 COLETTE SHERIDAN   One of only about 200 archivists in Ireland, Carol Quinn is head of archives at Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard.  Based in the Distillers Cottage in Midleton (which is...

Icons of Whisky Ireland 2023 winners unveiled In a return to in-person awards ceremonies, Irish whiskey’s great and good gathered together at the Iveagh Garden Hotel in Dublin on 24 November for the Icons of Whisky Ireland 2023 regional awards, hosted by Whisky Magazine. The Icons of Whisky awards aim to celebrate the best and brightest people and places in the sector – not just the distilleries and the teams that work in them, but also the individuals and businesses that work to support and promote them and their products. Christopher Coates, Editor-at-large of Whisky Magazine, said: “The burgeoning Irish whiskey...