Craftsmanship, transparency, and innovation: exceptional whiskies, poitín, and rum are created here in small pot stills—driven by genuine passion.

Killowen

Nestled at the foot of the historic Mourne Mountains in County Down is one of the most exciting distilleries in Northern Ireland – if not the world. The pillars of the distillery's production and existence rest on two words: passion and transparency. Since 2017, genius and madness have gone hand in hand here – and that's meant in a completely positive sense.

For many connoisseurs, Killowen Distillery first and foremost stands for a spirit of experimentation, tradition, and above all outstanding quality – and not just when it comes to whiskey. In fact, it was whiskey that originally gave rise to the "distillery" project, with the goal of reviving traditional Irish whiskey. It's about rediscovering forgotten styles and native distillates and bringing them back to life. Beyond the country's borders, wherever people have heard of the craft distillery, terms like poitín, poitín-based coffee liqueur, and yes – even rum – tend to come up. A colorful mix, one might think. But don't worry: rum is only produced once a year. That makes things considerably easier, and today everything at Killowen follows one motto: sustainable slow craft.

Sustainability plays a central role, so you might sometimes spot Brendan or his colleagues mashing in with an old boat oar. Outside the building, there are also 1,000-liter containers used for fermentation – made, of course, from upcycled plastic drums.

Take a look at the pot stills, and you'll find two small ones: one with a capacity of 1,000 liters and one with 800 liters, both fired directly over an open flame. Worm tub condensers are used, which some may know better from moonshiners in the USA. It might seem unconventional, but here everything has its purpose. The philosophy is to work as traditionally as possible, so that the result lives up to the goals mentioned above.

Anyone planning a visit will be warmly welcomed by appointment. Here, truly any question can be answered, because transparency is taken very seriously. It doesn't matter whether it's about the production process or possible additives – which are avoided 99% of the time (keyword: liqueur). No topic is off-limits here, because that's the only way to keep moving things forward.

One of the points that, in Brendan's opinion, doesn't get talked about enough is not the distillation setup or the maturation, but the fermentation. It's one of the production steps that receives the most work and experimentation! That's why you'll find the fermentation vessels in question (referred to as washbacks – which might be a bit of a grand term) sitting outside the building, used to work with microbes and wild yeasts. This brings out the estate's own terroir in a completely different way!

There are still many exciting projects ahead. Who knows – perhaps some readers will soon be lucky enough to get their hands on our next single-cask project, or may have already tried one of the rare poitíns from the distillery's archive.