Baoilleach Showcase | Belfast Whiskey Week 2021

Name: Belfast Whiskey Week 2026
Start: 2026-07-24
End: 2026-08-01
Location: Belfast

Filed: 25 Jul 2021
By: Belfast Whiskey Week
Read: 3 min
Ref: BWW/21/828

On the morning of 25th July 2021, Belfast Whiskey Week turned its attention to one of Irish spirits' most intriguing independent voices — Baoilleach. Session 36 was a Showcase in the truest sense: six distinct expressions, each one a window into a philosophy that takes the old ways of uisce beatha and pushes them somewhere genuinely new. For those who joined, it was one of the festival's more quietly revelatory mornings.

About This Event

This tasting includes 6 x 50ml Samples and will take place on the 25th @ 12:00.

This tasting comprises of:

Poitin 60%
Sherry Barrel Rested Poitin 52.3%
Port Barrel Rested Poitin 55.5%
Peat & Port Barrel Rested Poitin 63.7%
Peated Single Malt 56%
Peated Pot Still 60%

For those in the USA, Australia, Sweden, Europe, the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland, you will be able to save on delivery costs by having your package to sent to a localised depot for collection. You will be charged a small fee upon collection, but the cost will be much cheaper than having packs delivered to individual addresses. If you would like to avail of this option, please make a note in the Special Instructions box, and we will contact you at a later date to arrange this and refund your delivery charges.

Looking Back

The name Baoilleach carries real duchas — it speaks to identity, to territory, to something rooted in the land and its people. That spirit (in every sense) ran through all six of the 50ml samples that arrived in attendees' hands ahead of the session. Six expressions is a serious commitment from any producer, and Baoilleach didn't waste a single dram. The lineup moved from raw, unaged poitín right through to finished, heavily peated pot still, mapping the full range of what this distillery believes is possible.

The Poitín at 60% was where things began, and it set an uncompromising tone. Clean, fierce, and alive with cereal character — this was new make that made no apologies. The Sherry Barrel Rested Poitín (52.3%) showed what even a brief cask conversation can do: a warmth crept in, a suggestion of dried fruit and spice that softened the edges without dulling the wildness. The Port Barrel Rested Poitín at 55.5% took that dialogue further, introducing a darker, more vinous note that felt almost brooding against the spirit's natural brightness.

But it was the Peat and Port Barrel Rested Poitín at 63.7% that stopped many in their tracks. The combination of smoke and port influence at that strength demanded attention — and rewarded it. There's something very tír about that combination, earthy and deep, like turf smoke drifting across a lough shore. The Peated Single Malt at 56% brought structure to the peat conversation, with the grain offering a longer, drier finish than the poitín expressions. And the Peated Pot Still at 60% rounded out the set with a richness and weight that spoke to genuine craft — this is a style that Ireland is reclaiming with confidence.

BWW 2021 was a festival that leaned into the full breadth of Irish and Ulster whiskey culture, and sessions like this one were exactly why. If Baoilleach's showcase left you wanting to explore further, that same year offered plenty of other exceptional Irish spirit experiences — from the deep heritage of Session 83's Bushmills History MasterClass to the contemporary craft on display in Session 22's Sexton Deconstruction Showcase. The sheugh between tradition and innovation has rarely felt so interesting to cross.

A note too on the practical side: the festival's logistics in 2021 were thoughtfully managed for an international audience, with localised depot collection available across the USA, Australia, Sweden, Europe, and both jurisdictions of Ireland. It was a genuine effort to make sure that geography wasn't a barrier to participation — sláinte to that. If you're curious about what else the festival has offered over the years, the Belfast Whiskey Week Whiskey Map is a fine place to begin your exploration.