IrishWhiskey360° and Taste the Island have teamed up to present the Festival of Irish Whiskey

The Festival of Irish Whiskey is a celebration of the culture and rich heritage of Irish Whiskey and offers visitors a chance to explore the places, meet the people and experience the processes behind the making of Irish whiskey.

Read More: Kerrygold, Irish whiskey and Baileys hit with new 25% tariff by United States

The festival will run from Thursday, October 10th to Sunday, October 13th, 2019 and will feature nearly 40 events and promotions in distilleries, brand homes, and Irish whiskey visitor centers across the country and in conjunction with the on-trade. 

The planned events and promotions range across free and discounted tours, open days, whiskey tastings and food pairings, cooperage demonstrations, meet the distillers talks, and much more. A full schedule of the free and ticketed events is now available online.

Read More: Whiskey 101: How to properly taste Irish whiskey

Selected highlights from the upcoming festival include:

October 10: Dublin Distilleries on your Doorstep at Arthur’s Pub, Thomas Street All five Dublin distilleries and brand homes will host a joint-tasting event with all proceeds to Solas Project, a charity based in The Liberties, Dublin.

October 10: ‘A Taste of Kilkenny, a Taste of Slane’ - The Kilkenny Whiskey Guild will host a special tasting event with Slane Irish Whiskey and Lord Alex Mountcharles in Bridie’s Bar (Langton’s).

October 12: Tour & Tipple Experience and Dunville's masterclass in The Echlinvillel Distillery, Ards Peninsula

October 12: Spirit of Dublin Food Fair at Teeling Whiskey Distillery  - Meet some of Dublin and Ireland’s most exciting artisanal food and drink producers in a showcase of the outstanding quality and diversity of produce across the country of Ireland. The event will feature a demonstration area where delicious meals and recipes incorporating Teeling Whiskey in unique and inventive ways will be showcased throughout the day. 

October 12 - 13: Live Cooperage Demonstration at Pearse Lyons Distillery, Dublin 

October 13: Clonakilty Distillery open day

Read More: Irish whiskey distilled in Cork named best in the world

On October 1, Andrew Doyle TD, Minister of State Minister of State for Food, Forestry, and Horticulture, unveiled the full schedule for the four-day Festival of Irish Whiskey,

TD Doyle said: ”I am very pleased to see that in 2018 there were 923,000 visitors to Irish whiskey distilleries, up 13% compared to 2017 and up 41% compared to 2015, with the  number of visitors set to exceed one million in 2019, thus ensuring that the industry remains a significant employer both directly and indirectly through its support of the Irish tourism, agricultural producers, the agri-food sector and the rural economy."

William Lavelle, Head of Irish Whiskey Association in Drink Ireland stated: "IrishWhiskey360° aims to make Ireland the number one destination in the world for whiskey tourism. By partnering with Taste the Island to run this Festival of Irish Whiskey, we hope to open-up Irish whiskey to more visitors than ever.”

You can learn more about the event on its website, Instagram, and Twitter.

Will you be attending the Festival of Irish Whiskey? Let us know in the comments!