Join me for My Live Chat at Cork on a Fork Festival I was asked to do a number of Live podcasts at a recent foodie festival in Cork - Cork on a Fork. I set up a podcast studio in the top floor bar of Cork Opera House in August 2024, in front of a Live audience, where my guests and I shared some very interesting drinks and chats. My 3 guests were: M…

Join me for My McConnell's Distillery Chat with Graham Millar, Head Distiller. Myself and Sonya visited McConnel's Distillery, in the old Crumlin Road Jail in Belfast, whilst up at Belfast Whiskey Week 2024. Graham showed us around their amazing converted and renovated centuries old prison wing, that is now their Distillery! The project was started…

Join me for My Cask Chat with Gary Ring in Boann Distillery. I visited Gary a while back, firstly joining him for a cuppa and bickie in Boann's "Distiller's Cottage", in Kestral Manor!!! I kid you not, very bougie... Gary is a distiller in Boann distillery and one of the most enthusiatic proponents of whiskey production in Irish whiskey industry...…

Join me for My Titanic Distillery Chat with Damien Rafferty. We recently visited Titanic Distillery at the Belfast city docks, while we were attending Belfast Whiskey Week 2025. We met up with Head Distiller Damien and we went for a stroll and a chat around the distillery building, finding out more about the Titanic Distillery project. It is an ama…

Join me for My Copeland Distillery Chat with Gareth Irvine. We recently visited Copeland Distillery on The Ards peninsula in Co. Down while we we attending Belfast Whiskey Week 2025. I chatted to owner and founder Gareth Irvine about his amazing distillery that he started as part of a college module!.. It is a fantastic little distillery, in a pict…

Join me for My Distillery Chat with Sarah Dowling, Cooley Distillery's Head Blender. I have wanted to see beyond the gates of the iconic Cooley Distillery for years. I finally got the opportunity and Head Blender and ex Distillery Manager Sarah Dowling showed me around. To say it was amazing is an understatement. It turns out that Cooley is a littl…

Join me for My Wee Pub Chat with Anthony & Katie Sheehy. Anthony & Katie founded Irish Whiskey Auctions, the monthly whiskey auction in Ireland and sponsor of Whiskey Chats. They then co-founded Irish Whiskey Experiences with Barry Chandler, where they have had huge successes with their Whiskey Bus tours and upcoming Whiskey Cruise in Nov 2025. But…

Join me for My Distillery Chat with Tracey Clarke in Kilbeggan. Tracey has worked as a Tour Guide in Kilbeggan Distillery for over 23yrs. She is part of the local community and would have grown up knowing it as the Old Locke's Distillery, after the family that previously owned it and ran it. It is an amazingly well preserved example of Victorian, I…

Join me for My Chat with Enguerrand Vandenbossche. Enguerrand is a French trained cooper, who was the Head Cooper in Tullamore Dew Distillery until 2022, owned by Beam Suntory, after working in France and for a time in Scotland at some of their industrial cooperages. For the past 2yrs, he has been working at the Good Spirits Co. in Dundalk. They ar…

Join me for My Distillery Chat with Gearóid Cahill in Slane Distillery. Gearóid is one of the only Master Brewers AND Master Distillers working in the alcohol industry. He spent nearly 20yrs as one of Diageo's top brewers, before going to work as Head Distiller for the fledgling Slane Distillery in Co. Meath, in the shadow of the famous concert ven…

Join me for My Distillery Chat with Connor Howlett at Stillgarden Distillery, in the heart of Dublin city. Connor has worked as a brand ambassador and chief gardener at Stillgarden for a couple of years now, after he finished his English and Film degree in 2021. He is very passionate about creating spirits of real integrity and it was a pleasure to…

Join me for My Historic Bottle Chat with Leo Phelan. Leo is a lifelong whiskey enthusiast. He has been knee deep in the Irish whiskey world for over 20yrs. He is a founding member and former president of the Irish Whiskey Society. He has become one of the authorities on historic Irish whiskey bottles in Ireland and is regularly consulted on authent…

Join me for My Peated Garden Chat with JP, Kevin & Aidan. JP O'Riordan, Kevin Murphy & Aidan McGovern called up to my back garden and we had a fantastic afternoon chatting about peated/ turfed/ smoky whiskeys, beer and a cocktail. I love recording the Garden Chats, they're the most fun. Always good to share great drops with buddies. This is part 1,…

Join me for My Chat with John O'Connell in West Cork Distillers in Skibbereen. My wife Sonya and I visited John on a very, very rainy Saturday afternoon and we were welcomed with open arms. What an amazing distillery John O'Connell, Ger McCarthy and Denis McCarthy have built. Supporting well over 200 local jobs in their locality, buying only Irish …

Join me for My Chat with Stephen D'alton, co-author of Wise's Irish Whiskey book. Stephen recently collaborated with the legendary Midleton Master Distiller Emeritus Barry Crockett on a book detailing the story behind the distilling Wise family dynasty in Cork. The Wise's once ran the highest output Irish Whiskey distillery in the 1800's, at North …

Join me for My Chat with Bill Lark, the Godfather of Australian Whiskey. Bill & his wife Lyn were responsible for reigniting the Australian whiskey industry in the early 90's. His brand Lark Distillery is still going and he is still involved in Lark Distillery in an ambassadorial role. His is a truly fascinating tale of what you can achieve when yo…

Join me for My Tasmanian Whiskey Garden Chat with Dan, Paul Costello & JP. This Garden Chat was recorded a couple of months back. I was gifted a box of Tasmanian Whiskey samples from Transportation Whiskey founder John Halton up at Belfast Whiskey Week 2023, who is one of the biggest advocates for Irish Whiskey in Australia and Tassie Whiskey in Ir…

Join me for My Garden Chat with Dan Pennington, Paul Costello & JP O'Riordan. My 3 buddies called up to my back garden a couple of weeks ago and we cracked open many bottles and samples of liquids we had never heard of. Join us as we discover some amazing new liquds and spirits and have a laugh aswell along the way. This episode of the podcast is s…

Join me for My Chat with Alex Thomas, Master Blender with Bushmill's Distillery. Alex has spent most of her career in Bushmill's. A couple of year's ago she was afforded the honour of developing her own brand within the distillery and so The Sextant was born. From there she progressed from Master Blender of The Sextant to Master Blender of Bushmill…

Join me for My Chat with Ronan Collins from Redacted Independent Bottlers. I met up with Ronan before Xmas in The Palace bar on Fleet St in Dublin. We had a great chat about Ronan and Michael Cowman's new Indy Bottler company, Redacted. Redacted have 2 releases to date - Killowen Single Cask and their new 200ml 'Naggin' series, the first being a 20…

Join me for My Chat with Gavin Clifford from Garden County Distillery. Their new distillery is not producing just yet, but it's not for the lack of equipment. It's all there and they are on the cusp of turning on the stills in the very near future, so it was great to get the opportunity to see Garden County Distillery in this fledging stage. This e…

Join me for My Walking Chat with Ger Garland from Keepers Heart Whiskey. Ger and I walked around Dublin city centre before Xmas, to shoot the breeze and catch up on his new role as Global Brand Advocacy Manager for Keepers Heart, having spent most of his career as one of the faces of Irish Distillers / Midleton. The eagle eyed amongst you will have…

Join me for My Chat with Dave Mulligan in Bar 1661. Dave opened Bar 1661 a number of years ago, to showcase poitín and cocktails. In those few short years, he has built one of the most respected cocktail bars in Europe, won multiple awards including Best Bar at the Irish Bar of the Year Awards in 2022 and has attracted some of the best bar staff in…

Join me for My Chat with Dr Jack O'Shea in Clontarf Castle. Jack started his distilling career in 1979 with Cooley Distillery. He has worked around the world, helped and advised many of our current distilleries to get started, educated many of the distillers currently working in the whiskey industry through his teaching with the Institute of Brewin…

Join me for My Chat with Barry Crockett at the silent North Mall Distillery in the heart of Cork City. This is a cracking episode. What an amazing chance I got, to record with one of the most significant distillers of the modern era. Barry took over as Master Distiller from his father Max Crockett, at the old Midleton Distillery; at the time when t…

Join me for My 2nd Chat with Fionnán O'Connor. This episode with Fionnán was recorded just after he submitted his doctural thesis on Historic Irish Mashbills and then embarked on a trip to Italy and France, visiting distilleries, libraries, universities and places of significance in the history of distilling in Europe. He had a very interesting jou…

Join me for My Cooperage Chat with Ian Leonard from Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Cooperage. Ian served his cooper's apprenticeship under the legenary Scottish Cooper John Neilly. He has carried forward his traditional skills from his master to Kentucky Bourbon Barrel, which is the Irish subsidiary of a huge American stave company, who are currently mana…

Join me for My Chat with Mike & Peter Clancy from Lough Ree Distillery. Mike and Peter were in Cork for the launch of Cork Whiskey Society's inaugural Exclusive Bottling, Lough Ree Sheares St. While they were knocking about my way, I said it would be a travesty if I didn't catch them for a chat, so i did. We met up in the back bar of the Imperial H…

Join me for My Chat with John Cashman in Powerscourt Distillery. I visited John a couple of weeks ago and learned all about the Powerscourt Distillery project from one of the Irish Whiskey Industry's long time advocates. John is one those guys who pounded pavements throughout the world, singing the praises and raising the profile of Irish Whiskey, …

Join me for My Walking Chat with Eddie O'Halloran at Watercourse Distillery. Eddie worked at the now silent Watercourse Distillery in Blackpool, on the northside of Cork City, before going on to work in Midleton Distillery until 2016. He worked in Watercourse Distillery in the late 60's / early 70's just before it closed, as part of the amalgamatio…

Join me for My Chat with Ian Garratt aka John McDougal. Ian has many FaceBook groups under his belt - Friends of Waterford, Friends of Bruichladdich, Friends of Midleton and now Friends of Irish Whiskey. He has an impecable talent for releasing fantastic spirits within these groups and he kindly agreed, eventually, to sit for a chat with me. We met…

Join me for My with Robert Johnson from Irish Whiskey Auctions. Rob has been part of the IWA team since near the start. He doesn't have an exact job title, but he kinda does a bit of everything. I jumped onboard his WA wagon in August 2023, to keep him company on his monthly bottle collection rounds. We travelled from Cork To Cahir and back again a…

Join me for My 2nd Walking Chat with Michael Carr. Michael and I dida podcast a while back, strolling through the historic Liberties area of Dublin city, taking in all the lost whiske heritage of the area. I enjoyed it so much, I asked him to go again, in a different part of Dublin city. And wow, what an enjoyable education he gave me on the subtle…

Join me for My Distillery Chat with Brian Mongan from Great Northern Distillery. I visited with Brian in Great Northern Distillery in Dundalk and I must have seen every dept in the place with him, on our stroll around. What a magnificent place John Teeling has built, such great people and whiskey. We finished up in the blending lab, where I bumped …

Join me for My Chat with Jarrod Cuffe from Off The Cuffe Bitters. I visited with Jarrod in The Chocolate Factory in Dublin a few weeks ago, to learn more about Off The Cuffe Bitters and Zeit Cocktails, that he has successfully released in the RTD (Ready To Drink) market. This episode of the podcast is sponsored by: Irish Whiskey Auctions www.boannd…

Join me for this Bonus Episode - My Live Online Tasting pt 2 This episode of the podcast is sponsored by: Irish Whiskey Auctions www.boanndistillery.ie Don't forget to sign up to my Patreon channel for 96hr early access episodes and more, for a few euros a month and help me deliver the best podcasts to you. https://www.patreon.com/whiskeychatspodca…

Join me for this Bonus Episode - My Live Online Tasting pt1 This episode of the podcast is sponsored by: Irish Whiskey Auctions www.boanndistillery.ie Don't forget to sign up to my Patreon channel for 96hr early access episodes and more, for a few euros a month and help me deliver the best podcasts to you. https://www.patreon.com/whiskeychatspodcas…

Join me for My Walking Chat with Gareth Downey from Dublin Whiskey Experiences. I met up with Gareth in The Liberties area of Dublin city and we walked and talked our way around a number of historic whiskey sites including a distillery and 2 iconic bars - The Stag's Head and The Palace Bar, where publican Willie Ahern looked after us as usual. This…

Join me for My Chat with Lauren McMullan, the new manager of Irish Whiskey Experiences. Lauren was the face of Bushmills Distillery for the past 5 years, having worked there 10 years, first as a tour guide and has spent the past 5 years as Brand Embassador for the island of Ireland. She has moved to a new role as manger with irishwhiskeyexperiences…

Join me for My Chat with John Teeling. I met John on the roof balcony of Teeling distillery, in the heart of The Liberties, with all the hustle and bustle of inner city Dublin life all around us. John Teeling is a legend in the world of Irish Whiskey. He founded Cooley Distillery in the heart of late 1980's Ireland recession, where John Teeling's 2…

Join me for My Chat with Alex Chasko, Head Distiller with Teeling Distillery. I met Alex on the roof balcony of Teeling distillery, in the heart of The Liberties area of Dublin City centre. He has been with the Teeling family through to the sale of Cooley Distillery days, to when John Teeling's sons, Jack & Steven founded Teeling Distillery. This e…

Join me for My Distillery Chat with John Wilcox in Blackwater Distillery, on the Cork / Waterford border. What an interesting lad he is..... Head Distiller John, is American by birth, but I think he has become an honorary Irishman. His love and passion for the historic legacy of Irish Pot Still whiskey is large as Blackwater Distillery's founder, P…

Join me for My Walking Tour Chat with Chris Hennessy, as I explored Kilkenny city's rich alcohol history. Chris guided me through the streets of Kilkenny, dropping his usual knowledge bombs as we went. Fantastic. This episode of the podcast is brought to you by Irish Whiskey Auctions Don't forget to sign up to my Patreon for 96hr early access episo…

Join me for My Tasting Chat with Barry Chandler in the iconic Hi-B Bar in the heart of Cork City centre, across from the GPO, above a pharmacy. I asked Barry to do a tasting for the Cork Whiskey Society in April 2023 and got permission to record it. Barry has been releasing private bottlings through his Stories & Sips Whiskey Club and Cork Whiskey …

I spent a couple of days last February 2023, in bitter freezing conditions, above in Killowen Distillery on work experience. Brendan Carty and his distiller Hugh allowed me to get stuck into every aspect of production that week. But on the last day, as we were falling upwards towards the distillery along the frozen mountain lane entrance, Brendan a…

Join me for My Unicorn Whiskey Garden Chat with Dan Pennington, Paul Costello and Conor Ryan from Pearse Lyons Distillery & Cork Whiskey Society. I was lucky enough to be gifted a few samples and I saved them up to share with the lads in my back garden. They ranged from brand new whiskeys to a couple of decades old. That's what whiskey is all about…

Join me for My Blind Tasting Garden Chat with Dan Pennington, Paul Costello and Conor Ryan from Pearse Lyons Distillery & Cork Whiskey Society. Chris Hennessy, all round whiskey and cocktail guru, gifted me a bag when i was up in Kilkenny with him in Jan 2023. In it, he had put together a blind tasting of spirits for my next Garden Chat. So myself …

Join me for My Street Chat with Master Distiller Brian Nation from O'Shaughnessy Distillery in Minnesota. Brian has recently moved to the US with his family, after a long and distinguished career with Midleton Distillery. Their new brand, Keepers Heart Irish + American whiskey, has just been released in Ireland and Brian joined me outside The Shelb…

Join me for My Chat with David Boyd-Armstrong from Shortcross Distillery above in Rademon Estate, Co. Down. I visited David and his wife Fiona with about 3 inches of snow underfoot. The warm welcome made up for the cold weather. What a distilley they've got going. Their Rye and Malt Single Malt release at cask strength turned my eye last year. Davi…

Join me for My Distillery Chat with Peter Cooney in Boann Distillery in Meath. Nestled in an celtic tiger era car sales showroom, off the M1 motorway from Dublin to Belfast is a rather special distillery doing rather special things. The Cooney family's Boann Distillery has come to prominance of late with their vintage mashbill programme, as part of…