Name: Bernard Walsh
Company: Walsh Whiskey Distillery
Job: Founder and Managing Director
Website: walshwhiskey.com

How long have you been working in the whisky industry?
I’ve been working in the industry since 1999.

What has been your biggest career highlight to date?
Seeing the first ever new-make spirit flow into the spirit safe at our distillery in Royal Oak on Easter Sunday 2016, with my wife Rosemary by my side. A dream realised, and the end of the beginning!

Can you remember your first dram, and indeed what it was?
I’d like to say Redbreast, as that was my grandfather’s tipple when I was a young lad, and I may have stolen the last sip from his glass more than once. But in truth, I was well into my twenties when I began to properly discover whisky. I was on a work trip to Anglesey Aluminium in North Wales in the 1980s to install a ‘Plant Maintenance’ system I had written (I was a software geek). I was treated to a fine dinner in a local hostelry and, after the meal, a cart arrived bearing an array of whiskies. My Welsh hosts took me on a tour of Scotland in liquid form—the first dram being a Glenfiddich… and that’s where it all started!

What does whisky mean to you?
Many things. A wonderful drink for moments of both celebration and reflection. A never-ending quest to craft the best possible dram across a range of styles and parameters. And the privilege of playing a small part in both the renaissance of Irish whiskey and the wider pantheon of world whisk(e)y.

Where would you like to see yourself in five years’ time?
In the maturation house at Royal Oak, building our whiskey legacy.

What was your last dram?
Last night we hosted a jazz quartet at the distillery in Royal Oak for a lucky few on Saint Valentine’s Day. We enjoyed the last drops of a single cask of The Irishman 12 Marsala. Truly a special dram—even if I say so myself!

Do you have a favourite whisky and food pairing?
Aside from porridge and a cap of whiskey on a Sunday morning, I really enjoy Writers’ Tears Red Head with a poached pear dessert drizzled with homemade toffee. The fruity notes of Writers’ Tears Red Head—already accentuated by full maturation in sherry butts—are lifted further by the natural green-fruit sweetness of the pear, contrasting beautifully with the raisin character from the sherry wood.

What’s your favourite time and place to enjoy a dram?
Sitting at the end of a good day in my leather armchair in our cosy distillery bar at Walsh Whiskey, with Ella Fitzgerald singing softly in the background. Pure, soothing satisfaction.

What do you think will be the next big thing on the whisky horizon?
The jewel in the Irish crown will be single pot still whiskey. It has the potential to do for Irish whiskey what single malt has done for Scotch over the past 40 years. There’s still work to do in developing the category here in Ireland, but watch this space!

At Walsh Whiskey Distillery, we are busy laying down much-needed new stocks of single pot still—and we’re innovating too. We’ve just distilled the first ever organic Irish single pot still. More to come!

What’s the one dram you couldn’t live without?
Writers’ Tears Copper Pot!

Many thanks to Bernard Walsh. Who will be our next Whisky Insider? Click back soon to find out!