At the beginning of August 2019, some of Scotchology went to Dublin for ten days. The following is a collection of notes and pictures of all the distilleries (and one iconic brewery) found around Dublin we visited, plus a bonus, broken out by location. There were only four operating distilleries as recently as a decade ago, but as of June 2019 there are 25 operating distilleries, with several more planned. In fact, all the distilleries in this post are new since Dublin had not contained an operating distillery in 125 years until Teeling opened their site in 2015.
Writers Tears
Originally created as a boutique blend in 2009, Writer’s Tears is a vatting of 60% single malt and 40% single pot stills, containing no grain except barley. In the subsequent decade, the whiskey has garnered various industry awards and mentions by luminaries such as Jim Murray and Ian Buxton. Writer’s Tears is likely a blend of whiskies from the Cooley and Midleton distilleries. There being only a handful of operating Irish distilleries, though more are in the works, it is quite normal for brands to source their whiskey to order and blend, finish or otherwise finish producing the final product. Like Canadian whisky, finding the source of the actual contents of the bottle can sometimes be challenging. Walsh Distillery began its own distillation in 2016, so we assume that as production continues and their house stock ages, the company’s portfolio will contain more of their own product.
World Whisky Day 2018
To celebrate World Whisky Day this year, we decided to go back to some countries we’ve visited before and deepen our explorations of what whisky can be, perhaps in ways we don’t usually feature. Five years of holding these tastings and exploring the world of whisky via social media and in-person has taught us whisky can be so much more than we’d have ever dreamed of when we first began our respective journeys. For the first time ever, Scotchology is absorbing the costs of the featured whiskies so that all proceeds will benefit two local charities.