Join me for My Midleton Cooper Chat with Derek Cronin.

This is my second Chat with Derek, but the first since he qualified as a Cooper..!

Derek is now a Cooper, a barrel maker, in Midleton Distillery. He can now proudly say he apprenticed under the legendary Master Cooper Ger Buckley.

I joined Derek in Midleton Cooperage, where I caught up on how he has been going since I spoke to last, at the start of his coopering journey, nearly 4 yrs ago..!

This episode of the podcast is sponsored by:

• www.boanndistillery.ie
• www.killowendistillery.com 

Don't forget to sign up to my Patreon channel for early access episodes and more, for a few euros a month and help me deliver the best podcasts to you.

https://www.patreon.com/whiskeychatspodcast

I really hope you enjoy listening in to our chat.

Laurie

Join me for My Garden Chat with Dean Fitzgerald & Cathal O'Brien part 2.

Dean Fitzgerald runs the Whiskey Appreciation Society pages on Social Media platforms. He does a great job bringing people along his whiskey journey and helping to promote Irish brands. I urge you to check out his profiles and give him a follow.

Cathal O'Brien has been repping West Cork Distillers for a decade now. Cathal originally hails from Galway, but you wouldn't know it with the pride that he has for West Cork.

This is part 2 of our chat where I invited the 2 lads up to my garden and I had a ball talking all things spirits and sharing stories.

We ended up cracking open and sharing some really fabulous bottles on part 2 of our Garden Chat.

This episode of the podcast is sponsored by:

• www.boanndistillery.ie
• www.killowendistillery.com 

Don't forget to sign up to my Patreon channel for early access episodes and more, for a few euros a month and help me deliver the best podcasts to you.

https://www.patreon.com/whiskeychatspodcast

I really hope you enjoy listening in to our chat.

Laurie

Join me for My Stonewell Chat with Diarmuid Madden.

Diarmuid is a Production Operator at Stonewell Cidery in Carrigaline, Cork. They produce an amzing array of quality ciders.

Orr Apple Brandy is their new venture, their own cider distilled by a local distillery and Diarmuid has been spearheading this project since the start of 2025.

This episode of the podcast is sponsored by:

• www.boanndistillery.ie
• www.killowendistillery.com 

Don't forget to sign up to my Patreon channel for early access episodes and more, for a few euros a month and help me deliver the best podcasts to you.

https://www.patreon.com/whiskeychatspodcast

I really hope you enjoy listening in to our chat.

Laurie

Join me for My Garden Chat with Dean & Cathal pt 1.

Dean Fitzgerald runs the Whiskey Appreciation Society pages on Social Media platforms. He does a great job bringing people along hi journey with him and helping to promote Irish brands. I urge you to check out his profiles and give him a follow.

Cathal O'Brien has been repping West Cork Distillers for a decade now. Cathal originally hails from Galway, but you wouldn't know it with the pride that he has for West Cork.

I invited the 2 lads up to my garden and I had a ball talking all things spirits and sharing stories, with 2 great buddies of mine.

And best of all, this is only part 1 of or chat....!!!

This episode of the podcast is sponsored by:

• www.boanndistillery.ie
• www.killowendistillery.com 

Don't forget to sign up to my Patreon channel for early access episodes and more, for a few euros a month and help me deliver the best podcasts to you.

https://www.patreon.com/whiskeychatspodcast

I really hope you enjoy listening in to our chat.

Laurie

Join me for My Midleton Micro Distillery Chat with Barrett Stapleton - Head Distiller in the Micro.

Barrett originally hails from the US and has beat a really interesting path to his current position in Midleton Distillery.

He came back to Ireland at the end of Covid, after studying in UCC in the early 00's, to start work distilling in Clonakilty Distillery. 

From Electrician to Scuba Instructor, from Hawaii to Antarctica, I am so glad that none of those things dissuaded Barrett from joining the Irish Whiskey fraternity, because he is a genuine, passionate, bubbly character whose passion is infectious.

He's my kinda guy and I think after listening to this chat, you'll understand why it's so important to have people like this in the Irish Whiskey Industry.

This episode of the podcast is sponsored by:

• www.boanndistillery.ie
• www.killowendistillery.com 

Don't forget to sign up to my Patreon channel for early access episodes and more, for a few euros a month and help me deliver the best podcasts to you.

https://www.patreon.com/whiskeychatspodcast

I really hope you enjoy listening in to our chat.

Laurie

Join me for My Stonewell Cidery Chat with Daniel Emerson.

Founded by Daniel and Geraldine Emerson in 2009, Stonewell is a small family-run cider producer. Their story began with an old French press and apple mill from Geraldine’s Loire Valley family before upgrading to a modern press at their Carrigaline Production facility.

I joined Daniel in Carrigaline and we walked amongst their fermenters and chatted about how Stonewell have always used apples that are sourced from orchards across Waterford, Kilkenny, Laois, Tipperary, and Cork. They use traditional cider apples like Dabinett and Michelin, blended with eating varieties such as Jonagored, Elstar, and Falstaff

Stonewell cider always stood out to me as one of the better cider offerings in bars. This trip down to them confirmed that.

This episode of the podcast is sponsored by:

• www.boanndistillery.ie
• www.killowendistillery.com 

Don't forget to sign up to my Patreon channel for early access episodes and more, for a few euros a month and help me deliver the best podcasts to you.

https://www.patreon.com/whiskeychatspodcast

I really hope you enjoy listening in to our chat.

Laurie

Join me for My Spot Whiskey Chat with Robert Mitchell.

Robert Mitchell is the 7th generation of his family to run Mitchell & Son Wine and Spirits Merchants in Dublin city centre.

Mitchell's have left a huge legacy in their wake on Irish whiskey, as at one point in the late 20th century, the only shop in the world to sell Pot Still Irish whiskey was Mitchell's, as they were the only retailers for their Green Spot whiskey, in the world.

Robert and I get into the story behind the Spot range of whiskeys in this chat and it was an honour to sit with Robert for this chat.

This episode of the podcast is sponsored by:

• www.boanndistillery.ie
• www.killowendistillery.com 

Don't forget to sign up to my Patreon channel for early access episodes and more, for a few euros a month and help me deliver the best podcasts to you.

https://www.patreon.com/whiskeychatspodcast

I really hope you enjoy listening in to our chat.

Laurie

Join me for My Mourne Dew Distillery Chat with Donal Farrell.

Mourne Dew was founded in 2017 by Donal Farrell, a former barrister and chartered accountant.

His inspiration came from an unexpected place—a court case involving cold distillation for forensic DNA extraction. This sparked an idea: what if the same technology could be used to create ultra-pure, high-quality spirits?

He is doing extremely interesting things, extracting and distilling flavours in a vacuum chamber, in order to retain freshness that may be 'cooked' out in a traditional still.

This episode of the podcast is sponsored by:

• www.boanndistillery.ie
• www.killowendistillery.com 

Don't forget to sign up to my Patreon channel for early access episodes and more, for a few euros a month and help me deliver the best podcasts to you.

https://www.patreon.com/whiskeychatspodcast

I really hope you enjoy listening in to our chat.

Laurie

Join me for My Hinch Distillery Chat with Emma Millar.

Emma Millar is a senior distiller since 2020, at the beautiful Hinch Distillery in Co. Down, founded by Dr Terry Cross in 2019. It is clearly a labour of love. The detail and scale of Hinch Distillery really impressed me as Emma showed me around.

But all the shiny things don't really matter, unless the spirit they produce is good...... and it really is.

Emma showed me the only bonded warehouse onsite, behind the distillery and I'm very happy to report that we won't be running out of Hinch's wonderful whiskey any time soon.

This episode of the podcast is sponsored by:

• www.boanndistillery.ie
• www.killowendistillery.com 

Don't forget to sign up to my Patreon channel for early access episodes and more, for a few euros a month and help me deliver the best podcasts to you.

https://www.patreon.com/whiskeychatspodcast

I really hope you enjoy listening in to our chat.

Laurie

Join me for My Ardara Distillery Chat with James Doherty.

James and Moira O'Doherty founded Sliabh Liag Distillers and began releasing their Silkie range of sourced smoky whiskeys, just as the covid lockdown hit, as well as An Dúlamán Irish Maritime gins.

James and Moira returned to Ireland from their last pit-stop in Hong Kong, to pick up James's family legacy of distilling 'Inishowen' style or smoky whiskeys again, in his family's native Donegal. Inishowen whiskey was once a by-word for smoky whiskeys, throughout the British Empire and the world.

Their 'recently' commissioned Ardara Distillery is sight to behold, resonating with Islay's distillery's style and I had a fantastic return visit with Jim to see the operation in full swing.

This episode of the podcast is sponsored by:

• www.boanndistillery.ie
• www.killowendistillery.com 

Don't forget to sign up to my Patreon channel for early access episodes and more, for a few euros a month and help me deliver the best podcasts to you.

https://www.patreon.com/whiskeychatspodcast

I really hope you enjoy listening in to our chat.

Laurie