Distillery
The Irishman
Bernard and Rosemary Walsh started their family drinks business in Ireland in 1999. At first they bottled a coffee liqueur called The Hot Irishman, not whisky. The pair spent years learning the craft before launching The Irishman whisky itself in 2006. It was built around single malt recipes from Ireland's 19th century golden age of distilling. What sets The Irishman apart is its refusal to use grain whisky. The core blends are made entirely from whisky distilled three times in copper pot stills. Single malt and single pot still spirit are blended together, with no column-still whisky at all. That is unusual even among Irish whisky brands, most of which lean heavily on lighter grain whisky to bulk out their blends. Bernard Walsh is a farmer's son from County Tipperary. In 2023 he was inducted into Whisky Magazine's Hall of Fame for his role in reviving Irish whisky. He was only the third Irish whisky founder honoured in the award's first two decades.
