That's The Spirit

What happens when an old whiskey label uncovers a forgotten chapter of Irish whiskey history? In this episode of That’s the Spirit , we travel to the wild Atlantic coast of County Clare to discover J.J. Corry, the Irish whiskey bonder bringing a lost tradition back to life. From an antique shop discovery to a family farm in the west of Ireland, we explore how Louise McGuane reimagined the art of w...

What happens when you meet two Irish lads from Longford at a whiskey show in Paris, just as your voice is giving up and your Midlands accent is making a comeback? Well, that’s where this episode begins. This week, I’m heading to Lanesborough, County Longford, to discover the story behind Lough Ree Distillery. After meeting Peter and Darragh at Whisky Live Paris, I came home with two bottles, a few...

That's the Spirit — Dunville's Every whiskey has a story, but this one starts somewhere you wouldn't expect, behind a bar in Galway, years before whiskey came into it at all. A chance friendship, a name that resurfaces years later at Dunville's, and a brand with one of Irish whiskey's great comeback stories, including an award that speaks for itself. This week's episode is...

In this episode of  That’s the Spirit , I’m heading to Midleton, home to some of the biggest names in Irish whiskey, including Redbreast, Powers, Midleton Very Rare, Spot and Jameson. But for me, Midleton is also about the people and the memories I’ve picked up along the way. I share some stories from my time in Galway, including Redbreast launches at Sonny Molloy’s, the arrival of a Redbreas...

In this episode of  That’s The Spirit , I’m talking about Teeling Whiskey a brand that was a big part of my career for a few years. We talk about Teeling’s history, the whiskeys I spent countless hours pouring, and what it was like looking after the West of Ireland. The long drives, the bars, the people, the good days, the frustrating days, and, somehow, an awful lot of tea. But really, this...

Ger Garland: The People Behind Irish Whiskey This week on  That’s the Spirit , we’re stepping away from the distillery and meeting one of the people who has helped shape Irish whiskey over the past two decades. From Irish Distillers to Keeper’s Heart in Minneapolis, Ger Garland has built a career around great whiskey, great stories and, most importantly, great people. Now back home in Ireland...

Sliabh Liag Distillers: A Taste of Donegal This week on  That’s the Spirit , we’re heading to Ardara in Donegal to discover the story of Sliabh Liag Distillers. Founded by James and Moira Doherty, Sliabh Liag is reconnecting Donegal with its distilling heritage, from the smoky whiskey traditions of the past to the new Ardara Distillery shaping its future. We explore The Silkie collection, Sli...

Boann Distillery: The Family That Went Digging for the Past Seven generations. One stretch of land on the Boyne. A family that sold one of Ireland's biggest drinks businesses to go and build something smaller and started by digging up recipes nobody had used in 200 years. This episode is the story of Boann Distillery: how the Cooney family brought whiskey-making back to Drogheda after a 160-year g...

In Episode 3 of  That's the Spirit , we head north to the Antrim coast, to the banks of the River Bush, and to one of the most iconic names in Irish whiskey. Bushmills. The oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world. A place shaped by wind, water, and centuries of patience, where triple-distilled single malt Irish whiskey has been made the same way, on the same site, for generations. But...

What does it take to turn a six-generation poitín tradition into one of Ireland's most celebrated craft distilleries? In Episode 2 of  That's the Spirit , we head to Galway to explore the story of Micil Distillery — founded by brothers Pádraic and Jimín Ó Griallais — and how they transformed a once-illicit family craft into Galway's first legal distillery in over a century. We explore the ric...

Dingle Distillery — Spirit on the Edge of the Atlantic For the first episode of That's the Spirit, we head west to the wild, wind-swept town of Dingle, County Kerry, and the story behind one of Ireland's first truly independent distilleries in generations. Founded in 2012 by the team behind the Porterhouse Brewing Company, Dingle was built small by design — hands-on, craft-led, and answerable to n...