Irish Whiskey Experiences in Ireland
There are endless opportunities for Irish Whiskey lovers to learn lots more about Uisce Beatha while visiting Ireland and I’ve been asked countless times at tastings and on virtual tastings for ideas and suggestions. So I decided to put all of that in one place and do my best to share as much information about Irish Whiskey Tourism and Visitor Experiences.
*Please note that this blog piece will be updated regularly as new distilleries come on stream and as new offerings for visitor experiences are launched.
For those of you looking to just read about My Top Ten Places To Visit In Ireland you’ll find a few distillery and pub tips in that piece as this piece is dedicated solely to Irish Whiskey Tourism and Visitor Experiences.
I’ve decided to break this piece into five regions - Dublin - Leinster - Ulster - Connacht - Munster - just to make it easier for people to navigate. The vast majority of visitors to Ireland come via Dublin, the capital city of the Republic of Ireland, and many use Dublin as the starting, and often ending, point of their visit to Ireland.
Many Irish Whiskey lovers come to Ireland to search out bottles that may not be available in their home market. In addition, they look to visit distilleries that don’t yet export to their country, and as I’m writing this as someone who lives in California I’ll be indicating some of these details below.
So here we go…
DUBLIN
Dublin has a long and storied history of distilling and is currently home to four operating distilleries. In addition to those there are some great Irish Whiskey experiences to be had along with shops and, you guessed it, pubs!
Distilleries
Dublin Liberties Distillery - Just opened for visitors and their whiskeys are not yet available here in the US.
Pearse Lyons - Located in a renovated church Pearse Lyons offers a number of great visitor experiences. Their Original, Distiller’s Choice, and Founder’s Choice are available in California.
Roe & Co - Located in the old power station of the Guinness Brewery this a great place to visit for some fun experiences. They only sell their core blended Irish Whiskey here in the States and offer a greater range to buy at the distillery.
Teeling Distillery - A distillery with strong and wide distribution here in the US that offers great visitor experiences. They sell whiskeys at the distillery that are both distillery-exclusive or only available in Ireland.
Shops
Celtic Whiskey Shop - A dangerous place to go without a chaperone, and they will ship to the US for you!
James Fox - An equally dangerous place to go without a chaperone, and next door to the museum mentioned below! They will also ship to the US.
Experiences
Irish Whiskey Museum - Located in the heart of Dublin on Grafton St. this is a great place to get lots of the history and backstories and enjoy a tasting.
Jameson Bow St. - While no longer a working distillery the old Bow St. location offers a fantastic selection of visitor experiences, some history, and a retail space where you can find many difficult-to-find-in-the-US bottles.
Walking Tour - Run by Ruairi Keogh, a great guy that I went to high school with, so I'm biased!
Experience Irish Whiskey - Let Derek King guide you on an intimate Irish Whiskey tasting experience, a cocktail class, or an Irish Coffee masterclass.
Pubs
The Palace Bar - Considered the mecca for Irish Whiskey selection in Dublin, if not the whole of the island of Ireland, they offer hundreds by the pour, and a number of Palace Bar Exclusive Bottlings by the pour and at their retail shop upstairs.
Bar 1661 - Named after the year in which the Crown (British Government) introduced a tax on whiskey production in Britain and Ireland. Bar1661 is famed for its selection of Poitín (the historical illicit spirit of Ireland) but also carries a truly impressive selection of Irish Whiskey.
Searson’s - Located a short stroll from the heart of Dublin on Upper Baggot St., Searson’s is an Irish Whiskey lovers’ paradise, with over 150 Irish Whiskeys to choose from.
LEINSTER
The province of Leinster is made up of 12 counties, which is more than a third of all of the 32 counties on the island of Ireland. We’ve already talked about Irish Whiskey experiences in Dublin above so this section will focus on the other 11 counties of Leinster and to make it easy I’ll lay them out alphabetically as follows; Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford, and Wicklow.
Carlow
Royal Oak Distillery - No longer offering any type of visitor experience and their Busker Whiskey has got good distribution in the US.
Walsh Whiskey - Located in the town of Carlow, Walsh Whiskey is well known here in the US for its Writers’ Tears and The Irishman Irish Whiskey brands. These both have strong distribution in the US and the distillery in Carlow does not offer any visitor experiences.
Kildare
Church of Oak - Located to the north of Monastevin canal side Church of Oak does not have any visitor experience of whiskey available for purchase at this time.
Kilkenny
Ballykeefe Distillery - There is limited distribution of Ballykeefe here in the US and visits to the distillery are available by request through their website.
Pub-wise there’s Langton’s Pub on John St. where I worked in the summer of 1988 and make sure to visit Dylan Whiskey Bar and Christy’s Bar while you’re in town too, you won’t be disappointed!
The Kilkenny Wine Center has a fantastic selection of Irish Whiskey and offers Tax-Free Shopping.
Laois
No known distilleries or bonders at this time and I’ll happily take any advice on pubs that must be visited!
Longford
Lough Ree Distillery - Located in the picturesque village of Lanesborough on the River Shannon the whiskey from Lough Ree is not currently distributed in the US. In addition to their Bart’s Blended Irish Whiskey “The Bridge” range is made in small quantities. Visitor experience wise their offering is their Gin School.
Louth
Cooley Distillery - Now owned by the multi-national drinks company Beam-Suntory a number of their Irish Whiskey Brands are produced here including Connemara, Kilbegga, and The Tyrconnell. The distillery itself does not have any visitor experiences but locally at Martin’s Pub you can enjoy some local knowledge and taste some whiskey.
Great Northern Distillery - This is one of the workhorse distilleries of the Irish Whiskey industry and produces large quantities of new make and aged spirit that is sold to distilleries across the island. Since 2017 they have produced their own whiskey under the Burke’s label and that’s available to buy from the Celtic Whiskey Shop.
Meath
Boann Distillery - No visitor experiences are available at Boann who have a fantastic reputation for making great Irish Whiskey. Their “Whistler” range of whiskeys has good distribution in the US but not all of these are available so hunting down those available just in Ireland is a good idea.
Slane - Located on the grounds of Slane Castle both visitor experiences and unique bottlings are available here. In addition to visiting nearby Newgrange make sure that you also spend some time at Slane Castle and its walking trail.
Offaly
Tullamore DEW - One of the iconic Irish Whiskey brands with a long and storied history. Now owned by William Grant they offer great visitor experiences and a number of distillery-exclusive whiskeys that can only be bought on site.
Westmeath
Kilbeggan - Now restored to its former glory Kilbeggan is owned by the multi-national drinks company Beam-Suntory. As a result, its whiskeys are widely distributed across the US. That being said a visit to Kilbeggan is a great idea as they have a number of visitor experiences available.
Wexford
No known distilleries or bonders at this time and I’ll happily take any advice on pubs that must be visited!
Wicklow
Barr an Uisce - A sourced Irish Whiskey brand that has got a tiny distribution footprint here in the US and is worth searching while in Ireland. There is no visitor experiences available at this time
Glendalough Distillery - While Glendalough (the Glen of the Two Lakes) is one of my favorite places to visit there are no visitor experiences available at the distillery at this time. A number of their whiskeys are distributed here in the US and the best place to find some of their smaller-release whiskeys would be in retail stores or Duty-Free.
Garden County Distillery - A relatively new distillery whose whiskeys are slowly making their way into retail outlets in the Dublin & Wicklow area. Not available in the US and there are no visitor experiences at this time.
Powerscourt Distillery - is located on the beautiful Powerscourt Estate in Enniskerry, just four short miles from where I grew up. They have been distilling here since 2018 and offer great visitor experiences. They announced their arrival in the US in early 2023 but it will take some time before their whiskeys will be widely available, so a visit here is a smart move.
Five places in Leinster (including Dublin) make it into my Top Ten Places to visit in Ireland and you’ll find more info on those here - DUBLIN - GLENDALOUGH - KILKENNY - NEWGRANGE - POWERSCOURT
ULSTER
The province of Ulster is made up of 9 counties, which comprises the six counties of Northern Ireland in addition to three counties in the Republic of Ireland. Confused by that? Don’t worry, so are some Irish people! Alphabetically they are; Antrim, Armagh, Cavan, Derry, Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, Monaghan, and Tyrone.
Antrim
Bushmills Distillery
The Bushmills Inn
Armagh
Cavan
No known distilleries or bonders at this time and I’ll happily take any advice on pubs that must be visited!
Derry
Donegal
Down
Fermanagh
Monaghan
Tyrone
One place in Ulster makes it into my Top Ten Places to Visit in Ireland and you’ll find out more info on THE GIANTS CAUSEWAY HERE
CONNACHT
The province of Connacht is made up of only 5 counties and alphabetically these are Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon, and Sligo.
Galway
Ahascragh Distillery
Micil Distillery
Sonny Molloys
Garavan's
Leitrim
Drumshanbo
Mayo
Clare Island Whiskey - Small batch production with very limited distribution. Worth a visit just for the history of Clare Island alone.
Connacht Distillery -
Irish American (Achill Island Distillery) -
Lough Mask Distillery -
Roscommon
No known distilleries or bonders at this time and I’ll happily take any advice on pubs that must be visited!
One place in Connacht make it into my Top Ten Places to visit in Ireland and you’ll find out more info on GALWAY HERE
MUNSTER
The province of Munster is made up of only 6 counties and alphabetically these are Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, and Waterford. There’s LOTS to see and do here in Munster on the Irish Whiskey front with the famed Midleton Distillery leading the way and a host of smaller, independent distillers and bonders also plying their trade.
Clare
Burren Distillery
Glendree Distillery
JJ Corry Whiskey Bonders
Cork
Black of Kinsale - Not available in the US so well worth a visit
Midleton Distillery
Clonakilty Distillery
West Cork Distillers
Kerry
Dingle Distillery
Killarney Distilling
Killarney Whisky
Celtic Bar & Larder in Killarney offers a truly off-the-hook selection of Irish Whiskey and has to be on your must-visit list if you’re in Kerry.
Dick Macks Pub -
Limerick
Tipperary
Waterford
Three places in Munster make it into my Top Ten Places to visit in Ireland and you’ll find more info on those here - CLIFFS OF MOHER - KILLARNEY - KINSALE
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Other Experiences