Whiskey
We Make Irish Whisky the old fashioned way
While our Irish whisky won’t be released until 2022, right now we are in the heat of production. We’re distilling Single Malt and Traditional Pot Still Irish whisky the old-fashioned way, with every precious drop made with 100% Irish barley, oats, wheat and rye.
Old Fashioned Single Malt & Pot Still Irish Whisky
When we say we make Irish whisky the old fashioned way, we actually mean it. Until 2014 Pot Still Irish whisky was always made from a mixed mash bill; so malt, barley and other grains like oats, wheat and rye. Commonly those ‘other grains’ amounted to around 25% of the total mash bill, that’s a long way from the currently permitted 5%.
How we ended up with the current unsustainable Technical File is documented (at length) on our blog pages. Let’s just say we make the kind of Single Pot Still whisky Ireland was once famous for, and not the neutered, revisionist spirit that has hijacked the name.
Blackwater Irish Whisky
Crafted with tradition, bottled with character.
Our mash tun is the mother, she even has a name – Sheela na Gig. She is where life begins, where the sugars are drawn from the grain. Our fermentation is long and slow. We work with the seasons, if it takes 100 + hours so be it.
For us distilling isn’t about stripping alcohol, it’s about compounding flavours. To keep as much of the grain character as possible, we double distil and collect at around 71%. Less alcohol = more congeners = more flavour. If you want ethanol, drink our vodka, it’s pretty good.
Our new make then is robust, fatty, oily and frankly delicious. When made, we ship our new make to Wexford where it is put into wood, and there it will sit for at least three years. The warehouse is dark, airy and right by the sea, but we won’t lie to you, don’t expect any ‘coastal influence’ nonsense, we’re not on a rock in the north sea.
Blackwater Irish Whisky ‘The Trinity’
- 47.2% alc/vol, 47% alc/vol, 59.2% alc/vol, 50cl
- STRICTLY LIMITED EDITIONS | SINGLE BARREL/SMALL BATCH
Can’t decide which of our new whiskies to choose? Why don’t you buy all three for €265, a saving of €35!
That’s right, all three of our award-winning new whiskies at a substantial discount with free shipping anywhere in Ireland.
We don’t use the word innovative lightly, but honestly we can’t think of any other whiskies like these three. Oaty McOatface gives you a peek into the alternative universe of what might have been for pot still Irish whisky, with Clashmore 1824, you have a window into the past with the recreation of a 200 year old marvel and finally PMD II: Return of the Dragon is the only single malt we produce, so rare that every year we only release a single cask.
Oaty McOatFace
Non-compliant potstill @ 47.2%
Grain bill: 50% Malt, 24% Malted Oat, 12% Barley, 5% Turf-Smoked Malt, 5% Rye, 4% Peated Oats
Tasting Notes: Sweet breakfast porridge, smoked maple cookie
Double turfed, double oated, double distilled and double casked. A modern twist on an old tune.
World Whiskies Awards 2025 No Age Statement Potstill Category Winner & Gold
Clashmore 1824
Heritage Potstill @ 47%
Grain bill: 51% Barley, 24% Oats, 20% Malt, 5% Turf smoked malt
Tasting Notes: Rich oatmeal raisin, grapefruit zest, warm hearth
Prior to the establishment of Blackwater Distillery, Clashmore was the last distillery in Waterford and it closed by 1840s. The distillery chimney still straddles the river Gleanogle which runs through the heart of the village of Clashmore.
Working with local historians, Blackwater head distiller John Wilcox worked out the typical Clashmore grain bill, then brought it to life up the road in Ballyduff. Aged exclusively in sherry wood, this expression is peak historical reenactment, without the scratchy underpants.
World Whiskies Awards 2025 No Age Statement Potstill Category Winner & Gold
Return of the Dragon
Single Malt – Irish Turf Smoked
Cask Strength: 59.2%
Grain bill: 25% Turf-Smoked Malt, 75% Malt
5 Year Old
Tasting Notes: Malted soldiers hiding in the orchard from the dragon. There is no escape. Apples on fire. Burninating the peasants.
The dragon is back and this time he’s at cask strength. What’s more, this single malt is the first age statement whisky from Blackwater. It’s made from 100% Irish barley, grown and malted on the same farm. A real Irish whisky origin story, featuring a dragon, with a heart of fire and a belly full of schmoky stewed apples.
World Whiskies Awards 2025 Single Cask Single Malt No Age Statement Category Winner & Gold
Our Estal Wild Glass collection 1919 choker whisky bottle is produced with 100% post-consumer recycled glass, thus preventing the extraction of raw materials from the natural environment.
Our Estal Corkcoal stopper blends two natural and renewable materials: cork and charcoal. The activated charcoal neutralizes and naturally traps undesired substances from the cork, without any chemical bleaches.
