A conversation with James Doherty about his journey into the world of whiskey, founding his own distillery in Ireland, and the unique characteristics of his new single malt.

Sliabh Liag Distillers

What path did you take before coming to Ireland? What was your job, and what led you to found your own distillery in Ireland? Immediately before I moved back to Ireland, I spent a couple of years in Hong Kong at SABMiller, where I developed the Asian market for Peroni. Before that, I was at William Grant and Sons (Glenfiddich, Balvenie, Hendrick's Gin), where I was fortunate enough to work in sales roles all over the world and in global marketing, including a brief stint as head of whiskey innovation – all of which feeds into what we're doing now. I was on the board at the time Tullamore DEW was acquired, and that got Moir and me thinking about how generic and similar Irish whiskey had become, and how you might do it differently.

On the subject of blended whiskey and single malts: these two categories have very different reputations among whiskey lovers, with single malt usually being the preferred choice. What's your take on this? I don't think the balance and depth of some blends is anything short of overwhelming. The reality is that the Scotch industry has convinced the world of the supremacy of single malt, and that's a reality we have to live with. To me, single malt is like a virtuoso musician. As a rule, they play one instrument and various pieces of music, but there's a DNA running through everything they do. For a blend, the master blender now has access to many virtuoso performers, as well as a few beginners, and with that the master blender can create a bigger, richer flavor out of all those instruments. In practical terms, they're playing the orchestra. As a blender, I love the flexibility that gives me the chance to experiment with other people's whiskeys. The idea I've just described is far too complicated, and possibly irrelevant, since it took 60 years for single malt to reach its peak, so I don't see that changing anytime soon.

To dig a bit deeper into this: how do you see the Irish whiskey market having developed over the past two to three years, and where is it headed? Overall, I'm very optimistic. Forecasts suggest this category will double over the next five years, and I can easily imagine that being true. I'm also convinced that things are now being driven more by flavor, and we're going to see real growth in the depth and diversity of the Irish whiskeys available – which is genuinely exciting. I think things will be defined much more by the spirit itself than by the cask, which has largely been the case in recent years, and that's an interesting shift to watch as the key differences develop. The world economy has been in a very unusual state since Covid, and geopolitical instability could cause a short-term dip, but in the long run the outlook for Irish whiskey is robust and stable.

Let's talk about the Ardara Distillery in Donegal, where you've been distilling your own spirits since November 2021. When can we expect to try your first single malt? The first Ardara whiskey will have finished maturing on 24 October, but we won't be releasing it until 25 March, so that we have enough stock ready for the launch. It already tastes wonderful, so I can hardly wait.

Since we're already talking about your new product: could you describe it, so our readers get a better idea of what to expect from your single malt once it's ready? We distill with the grain in, which means the grain isn't filtered out during mashing, but stays in the fermentation tank right up until distillation. All our whiskeys are heavily peated (55 ppm), and we use a relatively long fermentation time of 72 hours. The new whiskey is very clean, fruity, nutty, with an intense sweetness and a hint of pipe smoke and campfire smoke, plus a surprisingly sweet finish.

It's a cask blend of 60% first-fill bourbon and 40% Oloroso sherry, which creates a lovely balance between the honeyed sweetness and deep character of the new whiskey and the intense color, spice and nuttiness that comes from the Oloroso. It's absolutely delicious, and it's kept that sweet finish, which is highly unusual for a peated whiskey.

There are currently so many Irish distilleries, and many more still under construction. What sets the Ardara Distillery apart from other distilleries? There are currently 50 distilleries in production on the island, and I'd estimate that nearly 40 of them have their own spirit ready for release. From the very beginning, we set out to stand apart from the rest, and we achieve that through our production process and the final flavor. Ardara is a heavily peated "grains-in distillery." That means we don't have a mash tun; instead we use a combination of hammer mill and cooker, and we leave the grain in during fermentation, right up until distillation. We believe this gives us a much richer, oilier spirit, and because we peat it, we get an intensified smoky character in the final product. All the spirits from the northwest were originally smoky, so we're staying true to that, and this "grains-in" process actually resembles an illicit distillation process more than a modern single malt distillery. One of the industry's best master blenders described our finished spirit as "great." To me, it's sweet, fruity and nutty, wrapped in a blanket of ashy pipe smoke. Completely different from anything coming out of Ireland or Scotland.

You said it yourself: lovely to talk about Donegal! What makes your region so special for someone who's never been there, and why should people travel there? Donegal is a huge county in the far northwest of Ireland. Geographically in the north, politically in the south, and forgotten by everyone. Out of that grew a resilient, creative people with a strong streak of pessimism. Over the centuries we've lost people who went looking for bigger opportunities elsewhere. But that's changing now, and people are rediscovering the beauty of this wild, rugged coastal landscape, as well as just how warmly the people of Donegal welcome you. It's simply a magical place, and always worth the pilgrimage.

How would you describe the influence of Donegal's nature on your whisky? Donegal is famous and infamous for its history of illicit distilling. In 1815, Donegal had five times as many illegal distilleries as any other county. And it's well documented that "the palates of the people of Donegal were so damaged by their enjoyment of smoky spirits" that we felt we had to return to that smoky style and bring it back to the world. That may not be what defines a modern Irish whiskey, but it's definitely our heritage. We know they wouldn't have filtered either (hence our grains-in process), which, as it happens, also gives a richer character and a better mouthfeel!

You even offer a private "cask ownership" program called "Seanchaí," which is also Gaelic and stands for storyteller and/or keeper of legends. What do you offer, and what can someone expect from owning a private cask from Ardara?
You're right: if you buy one of our casks, you become a "Legend Keeper," and I hope your Ardara cask journey becomes part of your own legend. For around €6,000, you can choose between a single malt or pot still spirit and decide whether to fill it into a bourbon or sherry cask. We store the spirit for five years, after which you can finish it, let it mature further, bottle it, or simply take some out for yourself. If you no longer want the spirit, we'll buy it back from you and pay 3% interest per year. It's a wonderful way to be part of the Ardara Distillery while still having fun with very little risk!

What's your plan for when your first single malt launches? Are there specific plans you'll be focusing on? That's all still under wraps for now, but the release date will probably be St. Patrick's Day – it's my birthday, so there could be a lot of green involved!

James, thank you so much for this truly appreciated and interesting conversation! My pleasure – be sure to stop by, the kettle for tea or coffee is always on, and we always have something stronger on offer too!