Making the news this week is that the Old Midleton Distillery in Co Cork is releasing a collection of 44 bottles of whiskey with a price tag of €35,000 per bottle, making it the most expensive Irish whiskey in the world. Distilled in 1974, it is finally ready for bottling and will be celebrated with a limited release each year until 2025, the 200th birthday of the distillery.

Bottled into a Waterford Crystal decanter and displayed in a 200 year old wooden cabinet, this is a serious collector’s item. And those extras come free with the order!!!!

Other good Irish whiskey news:

• Jameson Whiskey sales passed a record 8 million cases in 2019
• There were exports of 1.5 billion euros of Irish whiskey last year
• New record high visitor numbers to Irish distilleries in 2019 – over 1 million people came to visit one of our 17 distilleries and brand houses.
• Teelings Whiskey won no less than 6 awards at the World Whiskey Awards. They are in the running for the 2020 World’s Best Single Malt which they won in 2019.
• Powerscourt Distillery opened in May 2019 and is already listed as #4 in The Gold Star Awards for Best Irish Drink Tourism Destination.  Our Meet the Makers tour visits Powerscourt Distillery which is a great experience. Visitors are treated to tastings of 3 Fercullen whiskies served with local meats, cheeses and whiskey ice-cream!

So in short, it is ALL happening on the Irish whiskey front. If you’d like to visit some of our Irish whiskey distilleries, we would love to see you on our new 6 Day Angel’s Share whiskey tour or our

6 Day Pint and a Half One which combines visits to craft breweries and distilleries. Both have plenty of cultural and scenic stops to keep things nicely balanced.

Sláinte, it’s a very exciting time to be a whiskey lover in Ireland.