Irish Whiskey: Stories and Sips

Daithí O'Connell is the founder of W.D. O'Connell Whiskey Merchants. It's safe to say that the whiskey merchants of old didn't have previous experience flying planes in the Middle East or setting up pubs and financial technology companies in Asia, but Daithí is a modern whiskey merchant with a hint of the renaissance man about him. It might just be the beard...

John Quinn serves as global brand ambassador for Tullamore D.E.W., one of the most recognized brands in Irish whiskey, a company he has played a role in growing since his early days with Irish Distillers. In 2016, John was named Whiskey Brand Ambassador of the year by Whisky Magazine's Icons of Whisky Awards, and in December 2018 he was appointed as Vice Chairman of the Irish Whiskey Association.

In 2019, John became the first Irish whiskey global ambassador to be inducted into the Whisky Magazine Hall of Fame. He is a legend of Irish whiskey and the hundreds of brand ambassadors that preach the Irish whiskey gospel around the world stand on his shoulders. He was there as Irish whiskey battled for survival. He's there today in the midst of growth that could never have been imagined in the 1970s. We can all learn from his perspective and experience.

I hope you enjoy our chat. A kinder, more genuine, passionate, knowledgeable gentleman you won't find in the world of whiskey.

Growing up even closer to a distillery than I did, this week's guest Jack Ferris, is the United States National Brand Ambassador for Bushmills. I've fallen more and more in love with the single malts from Bushmills over the past year and I had questions, many questions for Jack about Bushmills past, present and future. I hope you enjoy our chat.

This is the first episode in a series of conversations I'll be having with the founding team of Ireland Craft Beverages. They are about to launch their first ever Irish whiskey and are allowing me to follow that journey as they set about getting it on shelves all over the world. Launching a whiskey brand is no small undertaking and I hope you're as interested in me in learning what it takes. In this first in our series following the journey of Two Stacks Irish whiskey, I chat with co-founder Liam Brogan.

Teeling has remained a bit of an enigma to me over the past few years as I've tried to get my head around the myriad of brands they produce.

To put me straight and get my head around the company and their approach, I sat down with Robert Caldwell, Teeling Global Brand Ambassador to help me understand what Teeling is all about, the philosophy behind its distillation and maturation and what we might expect from them going forward.

Today we are seeing a resurgence in demand for Ireland's quintessential style of Irish whiskey - pot still whiskey. New distilleries all over the country are distilling and maturing single pot still whiskey in the hopes that it once again becomes the world's most consumed and demanded Irish whiskey. In the late 1700s and throughout the 1800s and well into the 1900s single pot still whiskey ruled the world. As domestic and global events played out in the 1900s, from prohibition to trade wars to Scottish and American competitors seizing upon opportunities, that style of whiskey faded in popularity to the point where it all but disappeared by the 1970s.

However, one brand never died out - never faded away and never disappeared from shelves and that is Green Spot Irish whiskey.

Today, Green Spot is joined by many other siblings in the spot range of whiskeys and every label bears a family a name - the Mitchell family. The Mitchell & Son firm of wine, whiskey and spirit merchants created this famous brand in the late 1800s and to this day are still involved in its production and distribution.

Legendary in the world of Irish whiskey, the Mitchell family ensured that single pot still whiskey bearing the Spot name never faded into obscurity.

This week I spent a wonderful afternoon chatting with Jonathan Mitchell, sixth generation of the Mitchell family to lead the company and oversee the wine and whiskey business. He has had a front row seat to the remarkable changes that have occurred in the world of Irish whiskey in the past 50 years and was instrumental in ensuring the survival and promotion of single pot still whiskey bearing the spot name. I could have chatted with Jonathan all day, and hope to again in the future.

I hope you enjoy the remarkable stories he shared with me.

Outspoken and passionate, Peter Mulryan is determined to build on Irish whiskey's rich, diverse history and recipes, and with a healthy pour of innovation ensure that his Irish whiskey takes advantage of the best of Irish whisky's past and present.

I'm a fan of what Peter and his team at Blackwater Distillery are doing and in advance of the launch of their newest sourced whiskey, Velvet Cap, I'm excited to share our chat with you.

One woman has been part of the story of Dingle and the distillery since before this crazy idea to distill in one of Europe's most westerly towns was hatched. Her name is Mary Ferriter and there is no Dingle Distillery without her. As General Manager and Global Ambassador for the Dingle Distillery, she has observed and managed its growth from a unique perch.

In this episode of stories I chat with Mary about the early days of the distillery and the story behind the now-well known brand.

The rise in demand for Irish whiskey around the world over the past ten years has led to the building of new distilleries in Ireland and the establishment of new whiskey brands, bonders and bottlers.

This evolving mixture of established multi-century brands and new risk-taking upstarts makes for a more diverse, more energetic and more interesting Irish whiskey landscape than we've had in Ireland in more than a century.

Fueled by passion and pride, these new entrants are putting their money where their mouth is and risking money and time to build something new, something exciting and something they can put their own stamp on.

In 2016, Louise McGuane, founder of J.J. Corry Irish Whiskey welcomed the first of many whiskey casks to her family farm in Co. Clare in Ireland.

In this episode of Stories & Sips, I chat with Louise about her unique business in the world of Irish whiskey, why whiskey barrels are delivered to her farm and how she has carved out a loyal fan base of Irish whiskey enthusiasts all around the world for her honest approach and downright good whiskey.

In the fight for Irish rights in the early 1800s, there is one dominant name - Daniel O'Connell - known as The Liberator or The Emancipator. O'Connell, a Kerryman, campaigned for Catholic emancipation - including the right for Catholics to sit in the Westminster Parliament, something that was denied for more than 100 years—and repeal of the Acts of Union which combined Great Britain and Ireland.

He was a legendary figure and had an outsized impact on the plight of the Irish two short centuries ago. There have been many intersections between the O'Connell family and alcohol over the years (some legitimate, others not so much) and today one particular descendant, Maurice O'Connell hopes to celebrate his family's history and impact with the establishment of his whiskey company Wayward Irish Spirits.

Maurice has great plans for the beautiful family estate near Killarney in the south west of Ireland and I was keen to learn more about what he hopes to achieve and what prompted him to get involved with Irish whiskey.