US author takes a deep dive into Irish whiskey
A new book is celebrating Ireland’s booming whiskey industry.
Whiskey Lore’s Travel Guide to Experiencing Irish Whiskey has been written by American author and podcaster Drew Hannush and details his extensive tour around the island’s many distilleries.
For much of the 20th century there were just two distilleries on the entire island in the form of Bushmills and Midleton in Cork. Now there are more than a dozen in Northern Ireland alone, with six more in development.
They include two tourism-linked ventures at Belfast’s Crumlin Road Gaol and in the city’s historic Titanic Quarter.
Drew started planning last year’s trip before Covid hit and admitted he’d been shocked by the booming industry.
“I didn’t real see the Irish whiskey market that was one exploding in growth, the way that it really has,” he said.
“I was just blown away by how many distilleries and projects I was finding.
“I started working on a spreadsheet and it hit 40 and all of sudden over 50, and that was quite shocking to me.
“I have still have my original plan I had created in 2019 and I look back at it and laugh now.”
In the end, ‘Whiskey Lore’s Travel Guide to Experiencing Irish Whiskey’ features 27 detailed profiles of Irish whiskey distilleries and information on 24 projects in development or at an early stage.
The book has also been complemented by Drew’s podcast (Whiskey Lore), where he narrates his travels all over the island and sits down with the people involved in the new golden age of Irish whiskey.
“Every distillery I visited I met great people and thoroughly enjoyed the experience,” said Drew.
“The goal will be to come back three years from now to do a re-tour and update the book and see where the distilleries have evolved to.
“But I’m sure I’ll be back sometime in-between as well.
“There’s no whiskey market where I just about know everybody,” he laughed “I’ve got a lot of friends in Ireland now!”
To learn more about Drew’s podcast and information on buying his book, visit whiskey-lore.com.
