About us
As the only officially sanctioned American chapter of the Irish Whiskey Society in Ireland, our goal is to expand the awareness and appreciation of the full range of Irish Whiskey through the responsible and congenial enjoyment of Ireland’s signature spirit.
Our enjoyment of Irish whiskey is as much an exploration of whiskey as it is of Irish history, heritage, and culture. Irish whiskey evokes Irish wit, music, conversation and congeniality (the “craic”) and has a personal ancestral connection for the millions of people of Irish descent worldwide.
Once the world's best-selling spirit, Irish whiskey is experiencing a global resurgence, dubbed its "Third Golden Age," with new brands, bottlings and masterful innovation. While we focus on Irish whiskey we appreciate and explore other whiskeys/whiskys and fine spirits.
The dramatic and ongoing expansion of distilleries across Ireland is creating a boom in new whiskey brands, styles and bottlings. Irish whiskey sales in the US also have increased dramatically and are continuing to grow. Like you, we hope more people in the US will recognize the fabulous variety and quality of Irish whiskey and include many more on store and pub shelves. We can each do our part to educate and enlighten others about the complex and flavorful uisce beatha from the Emerald Isle!
Allan Dwyer, President
Allan’s interest in “uisce beatha” really began during a 2007 family trip to Jameson’s Bow Street distillery in Dublin. Intrigued by the tour and tasting, further exploration into the history of Irish Whiskey while reading a book on the flight home whetted his appetite for more.
In 2010, the opportunity arose to help start the IWSA, first as an inaugural member and then as vice president through 2016. Allan also became a Dingle Distillery Founding Father in 2013 contributing to the launch of the first new, independent, purpose built distillery in over 200 years. Allan makes frequent trips to Ireland to monitor his personal, artisanal whiskey cask, golf the beautiful links courses, and sample the growing inventory of whiskies in Irish pubs. While waiting for his aging whiskey to be bottled, Allan enjoys spreading the craic as IWSA President.