Irish Whiskey USA: The 5th Belfast Whiskey Week

The IWSA highlighted Belfast in its July newsletter and across its social media that month — an institutional endorsement that helped lift Belfast's profile inside the most engaged segment of the US Irish whiskey community. For a festival that sells tickets to people who fly in from across the United States, that kind of presence matters.

The piece sets the 2023 scene: "Nine days, 18 venues — numbers doubling, but it's actually Belfast Whiskey Week, which has been officially launched with a packed programme involving more than 30 brands and distilleries." 2023 was a turning-point year for Belfast distilling specifically. As the piece puts it: "2023 is a momentous year for Belfast whiskey, with the opening of the Titanic Distillery and McConnell's to follow in the north of the city."

The article highlights how the festival was already drawing well beyond Irish whiskey by 2023. "Yet there's so much more than even Irish whiskey involved, with involvement from Scotch and Tasmanian distilleries." The Tasmanian programme has been a running feature ever since, with multiple sessions each year showcasing Tasmania's relatively small but extraordinarily distinctive whisky scene.

The 2023 programme is described as covering "whiskey tastings, cocktail events, theatrical experiences, chocolate making, comedy, fine dining experiences, heritage walking tours, music, fire-side talks, Irish dancing, candle making and food pairing sessions." That programme list captures something the festival has always understood: whiskey is the centre, but the experience around it is the festival.

The piece also outlines the partner network: Irish Whiskey Magazine, Urban Bar, Belfast Whiskey Club, Echlinville Distillery, The Friend at Hand, the Duke of York, Willis Insurance and risk management (festival partner), and Hastings Hotel Group as festival accommodation provider.

For US-based readers planning a trip to Ireland that summer, the IWSA's endorsement and Irish Whiskey USA's feature was the moment the festival became a serious destination event on their radar — not just a thing happening in another country, but a reason to visit Belfast specifically.

Read the full feature: Irish Whiskey USA — The 5th Belfast Whiskey Week