New Irish whiskey set to be launched in North West

Founders Brian Ash and Jim Nash, pioneers of the new whiskey.Founders Brian Ash and Jim Nash, pioneers of the new whiskey.
Founders Brian Ash and Jim Nash, pioneers of the new whiskey.
TYRONE’S Wild Atlantic Distillery is launching its first Irish whiskey: ‘The IslandMen 1921 in December.

It is the first Irish whiskey from the distillery which is based in Aghyaran, County Tyrone, and opened in 2019. Wild Atlantic has been successfully producing award-winning gins and vodkas.

The distillery will release a maximum of 350 bottles of this exclusive Irish whiskey, all drawn from their inaugural Cask 001. Distilled and laid down on December 21, 2021, the final bottle count will be determined once the cask is opened and bottled on December 21 this year.

Most notably, it marks the first release of an Irish whiskey in over 100 years in the Tyrone and Derry regions, reviving the proud history of Irish whiskey distillation in the two counties.

One hundred years after the closure of the Watt Distillery in 1921, Wild Atlantic proudly revived the rich tradition of Irish whiskey making of the North West.

“We are proud to continue the long history of traditional distilling in this region,” said founders Brian Ash and Jim Nash. “IslandMen Irish whiskey represents the pinnacle of craftsmanship and celebrates the resilience, passion, and spirit of the Irish people.” Their IslandMen Irish whiskey pays homage to the past by crafting their premium Irish whiskey in the heart of County Tyrone, while raising a glass to the future.

They are eager for more releases to come as they continue to expand their brand into the Irish whiskey market.

The roots of Irish whiskey distillation run deep in this corner of the North West. By the late 18th century the region was home to many illicit distillers, before legal distilleries emerged to transform the local whiskey industry.

In 1815, Alexander Stewart established Derry’s first legal distillery, producing an impressive 85,000 gallons of malt whiskey annually. By 1836, Derry's Irish whiskey production grew to 350,000 gallons across its distilleries, with global recognition following soon after.

In 1839, David Watt took full ownership of the Abbey Street distillery, Ireland's largest at the time. Under the guidance of Aeneas Coffey, the inventor of the Coffey still, production surged to two million gallons a year.

However, this golden era came to a close with the Watt Distillery’s lockout in 1921, marking the end of whiskey production in the region for over a century. Thus why they named their own whiskey membership as the 1921 Members Club.

IslandMen Irish Whiskey is a premium whiskey that encapsulates the untamed beauty and enduring traditions of Ireland. With its inaugural release in the Tyrone and Derry regions, IslandMen is not only reviving a lost tradition but also setting a new standard for Irish whiskey in the modern era.

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