Fionnán O’Connor first became well-known for his ground breaking whiskey book A Glass Apart which was a timely chronicle on single pot still whiskey just as it was about to start its current renaissance period. 

Not content with his first book he has since gone on to research the rich history of Irish whiskey and specifically the grains that were used by long lost distilleries in their pot still mash bills. 

A lengthy process of going through extensive archives has now reached its endgame and Fionnan has since persuaded distilleries to try out some of these old recipes in an attempt to revive long lost whiskey styles, and to see how the different grain ratios contribute to a variety of flavour profiles. 

In this episode you will get a real impression of the passion and dedication Fionnan has put into his work. We discuss his journey into whiskey and how he got caught up in the rich history of Irish pot still whiskey and how his research will hopefully become a valuable resource for new generations of whiskey makers. 

Link to Boan Distillery's Vintage Mashbill Casks: https://boanndistillery.ie/vintage-mash-bills/

Welcome back to the second series of the Celtic Whiskey Pod. In our first episode we are fortunate to be talking John Campbell from the Lochlea Distillery in Ayrshire. As the former Head of Distilling at Laphroaig he is vastly experienced and brings his knowledge and expertise to his new role. Lochlea launched their first release towards the end of January and it proved to be one of the fastest selling initial releases ever. Don't worry though! There will be more coming later this year. 

It was a pleasure to chat to John and in the episode we talk about farm distilling, the style of the whisky and about the various cask types that are being used for maturation. There's a lot more in there but we will let you here about it all from John. We hope you like the conversation.

A link to the Distillery's website here reveals some more information: https://www.lochleadistillery.com/

In the episode we also mention the Drams Delivered website which you can find here: https://dramsdelivered.com/

This is the second chapter of our double-header podcast with Mark Reynier from Waterford Distillery in Ireland and Renegade Rum Distillery in Grenada. In this podcast we delve into the concept of Terroir (soil, microclimate, terrain and latitude etc) and how it has an effect on distilling from both barley and sugar cane. I myself have been a sceptic on this topic in the past but a recent paper commissioned by Waterford has proven that Terroir does change the character of spirit. We discuss the paper, the farms and practices such as biodynamic and organic farming and a lot more. It is not 100% neccesary that you listen to chapter 1 of this podcast first, but we would recommend it! You can find Paper 1 on Terroir at Waterford following the link here: https://waterfordwhisky.com/element/the-whisky-terroir-project-paper-one/

Thanks to Mark Reynier for a great chat! Slainte.

In this first instalment of a double-header we talk to Mark Reynier, former major stakeholder of Bruichladdich Distillery and now owner of Waterford Distillery in Ireland and the new Renegade Rum Distillery in Grenada. Mark has had quite a journey through various facets of the drinks industry. It would seem that at times he has been in the right place at the right time, but in reality he is one of those rare people who seem to be able to spot opportunities where many others see potential disaster. His revival of Bruichladdich Distillery is probably somewhat taken for granted these days but at the time it was a gamble, one that fortunately paid off. The sale of his stake in the company helped fund the Waterford Distillery which has been shaking things up in Ireland, and more recently the Renegade Rum in Grenada. Mark likes to court controversy, disrupter is a word often used in the tech industry but in the spirits industry there a few who have managed to change so much in such a short space of time. He's been a target for many who are keen to rubbish some of his ideas like 'Terroir' in whiskey. I was also a skeptic on this subject matter, after listening to Mark I am now more convinced but still want to see the proof in the taste of the finished product! We had a long conversation and you can catch the second instalment shortly. Sláinte!

In episode 13 we talk to Alex Chasko Master Distiller and Blender at the Teeling Whiskey Company. Alex has been in charge of the distilling and maturation programme at Teeling since the company was founded in 2012 and the distillery was commissioned in 2015. He started off as a brewer in Portland Oregon and went on to study distilling at Herriot Watt before joining The Kilbeggan Distilling Company (aka Cooley Distillery). It is his work at Teeling that has been most noticeable and in many ways he has helped lead the revival in Irish distilling with some pioneering work on unconventional grains, wood types and barrel finished. As always he was great to talk to, unfortunately zoom caused us some technical problems and the sound quality suffered a bit. Hopefully it will not spoil your enjoyment too much. 

In episode 12 we talk to Carol Quinn from the Midleton Archive. With documents and artifacts dating back to the infancy of Irish Whiskey this valuable record has been a source of fascination, inspiration and education for whiskey makers and enthusiasts since Carol's work started approximately 10 years ago. Recently the Jameson employee records have been made available through the Ancestry website and these can be found at https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/61942/. We talk about this collection, the way the archive influences the culture within Irish Distillers, and how the branding of whiskeys continues to be inspired by the labels of the past. There's a lot more to enjoy. It was a fascinating conversation in which we hear about the lives and the conditions of distillery workers in the previous centuries. 

Darryl McNally is well known as former Master Distiller at Dublin Liberties Distillery but earlier this he left the company to pursue the dream of creating his own whiskey. In this episode we talk to Darryl about the imminent release of Limavady Irish Whiskey and about his plans for the brand in both the short term and long term. There's an interesting link up with Whistle Pig Distillery in Vermont that ensures great distribution across the USA, and that is where Darryl talked to us from. In this episode we also chat a bit about his former workplaces and the real challenges he faced when helping set up distilleries in historical buildings, and also about the future of Irish whiskey. 

For episode ten Al Higgins and Luke Crowley-Holland spoke to 6th generation distiller Pádraic Ó'Griallais. They discuss some of the myths and legends of Poitín, its origins and the future of this unique drink. Micil Distillery is the first distillery to make whiskey in Galway for 100 years and we talk about the future, the whiskey, the poitín and a lot more!

In this, our ninth episode, we talk about the 'King of Wines' otherwise known as Tokaji with Laszlo Meszaros managing director of Disznoko. Tokaji has a rich history and is one of the oldest recognised styles of wine in the world. The Tokaj area has a unique combination of micro climate and soils that help create sweet wines that are made using grapes affected by Noble Rot. At the zenith of these wines sits the mythical Essencia Tokaji which is so sweet and concentrated that it is most commonly served in a tiny glass or even a small spoon. The flavours are such that just a single sip will last for what seems an eternity.

We hope you like listening to Laszlo, Tokaji wines are one of the world's great treasures and we would encourage any wine drinker to explore them in some detail. 

Join Al Higgins and Julie Christie as we talk to Stewart Buchanan from Benriach, Glendronach and Glenglassaugh distilleries. In this episode we discuss the rebirth and rise in popularity of the distilleries, with some great descriptions of the spirit types from Stewart and a lot more. We discuss the revamped Benriach range and the changes happening across the three distilleries under their owners Brown-Forman.