Expertise from Bushmills guides Ireland’s latest premium spirit

Driving the development of the recently-launched Caravogue, a 20-year-old whiskey from Hawk’s Rock Distillery in Sligo for Sazerac in New Orleans, is Helen Mulholland, a native of Rasharkin, near Ballymena.

Crafted by Master Blender Helen, the first female master blender in the history of Irish whiskey, the new single malt is named after the Garavogue River that flows through Sligo.

Helen, a former master blender at Bushmills for over 30 years and a key figure in the creation of a series of rare whiskeys, says: “Garavogue is purposefully different from the current trend in Irish whiskeys which feature a rich sherry finish.

“It is unusual for a whiskey to be blended with a number and variety of casks, but just as the river ebbs and flows, the flavours create a wonderful blend as they weave together in this 20-year-old single malt.”

Previously known as Lough Gill Distillery, Hawk’s Rock is the rebrand by Sazerac, which also owns Paddy and Michael Collins Irish whiskeys in Ireland, as well as Buffalo Trace bourbon and Southern Comfort in the US.

Helen, who joined the Sazerac Sligo venture in 2022 from Bushmills, continues: “For its inaugural and limited release, Garavogue 20-Year-Old Single Malt offers a rare take on traditional Irish whiskey with both unexpected and familiar flavours due to its unique maturation involving multiple types of casks.

Helen’s role isn’t limited to production; it’s also strategic. She oversees innovation, leads blending and maturation decisions, and shapes the future of Hawk’s Rock. She also serves as Chair of the Irish Whiskey Association, another first for a woman in the industry

Hawk’s Rock Distillery is named after a prominent outcrop in the Ox Mountains known for inspiring Nobel Prize winning poet William Butler (WB) Yeats, who called Sligo his spiritual home.