Irish Whiskey Review Walking Tour | Belfast Whiskey Week 2025

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

Filed: 15 Jul 2025
By: Belfast Whiskey Week
Read: 4 min
Ref: BWW/25/148

Some events ask you to take a seat. This one asked you to lace up your boots. Marty McAuley of Irish Whiskey Review led Belfast Whiskey Week's commissioned walking tour through the streets, stories, and spirits of this city across nine days in July 2025 — a bespoke journey that wove together the seanchas of Belfast's whiskey heritage with the living, breathing hospitality scene it still sustains today.

About This Event

We are lucky to have Marty McAuley from Irish Whiskey Review taking our seconded bespoke walking tour of Belfast’s Whiskey Heritage and Whiskey Industry as well as an in depth historical review of Belfast of the years. Marty has wealth of whiskey knowledge and is also one of the best walking tour guides in the city. This combination, and his cameo role at the Friend at Hand has him well placed to deliver a walking tour like no other in the city.

Be prepared for a good walk, great whiskies and delightful snacks, as you visit Belfast Landmarks, pubs and eateries. Your love for whiskey will be enhanced, your love for history will grow, and your love for Belfast will flourish. Sip on 4 local whiskies and devour our food collaborations with local artisans, including; Whiskey Donuts, Chocolates, Burgers, Chips and Ice-Pops.

Meeting Point to Start: Inside Our Hotel Partner; Room2 Hotel, Queen Street, Belfast BT1 6EE at 3pm each day Friday 18th to Saturday 26th July

Looking Back

Gathering each afternoon at three o'clock inside the welcoming surrounds of Room2 Hotel on Queen Street, groups of eager walkers — some seasoned whiskey hunters, others simply curious about the city beneath the city — were met by Marty with the kind of easy authority that only comes from genuine passion. Irish Whiskey Review is one of the most respected independent voices in the uisce beatha world, and Marty carries that knowledge lightly, wearing it the way Belfast wears its history: openly, without ceremony, and with a dry wit never far from the surface.

The route itself was something to behold. From Queen Street outward, the tour threaded through Belfast landmarks that most visitors walk past without knowing what they're missing — buildings, corners, and old sheughs of the trade that once made this city one of the great whiskey capitals of these islands. Marty connected the dots between the industrial past and the renaissance now underway, giving walkers the context to appreciate not just what they were drinking, but why it matters that Belfast is making and celebrating whiskey again. For those who wanted to go deeper into the geography of that story, our Belfast Whiskey Map traces many of the same threads across the wider Ulster landscape.

Four local whiskies anchored the walk — each poured at a different stop, each chosen to illuminate something about the character of the place and the moment. But this wasn't a dry tasting exercise. The food collaborations with local artisans were half the event in themselves: whiskey-glazed donuts, handcrafted chocolates, proper Belfast burgers, chips, and — in a touch that perfectly suited a warm July afternoon — whiskey ice-pops. The tír was present in every bite. Marty's cameo role at the Friend at Hand gave the tour an insider's warmth at key points along the route, the kind of welcome that makes a visitor feel less like a tourist and more like a neighbour for the afternoon.

This wasn't the first time Belfast Whiskey Week has sent its guests out into the streets to find the festival rather than sit still for it. The spirit of this event echoes through related walking experiences in the programme — from the pub and art trails curated by Belfast Walking Tours to the wonderfully atmospheric Belfast Hidden Tours: Walking, Whiskies & Whispers, each approaching the city from a different angle but sharing the same conviction that Belfast reveals itself best on foot, glass in hand. Marty has also led his own iteration of this format before — Walking With Marty has its own loyal following, and it was easy to see why on this outing.

At £30 for the full experience — drams, food, history, and company — this felt less like a ticket price and more like an investment in understanding a place. By the time walkers arrived back at their starting point, the dúchas of Belfast had done its work: a deeper love for the city, its people, and its whiskey planted a little more firmly than before. Sláinte.