Lambay Whiskey Introduction | Belfast Whiskey Week 2021

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

Filed: 24 Jul 2021
By: Belfast Whiskey Week
Read: 3 min
Format: Online Tasting
Ref: BWW/21/844

There are islands, and then there is Lambay. Sitting a few miles off the Dublin coast in the Irish Sea, Lambay Island lends its name to one of the most intriguing whiskey projects to emerge from Ireland in recent years — and in July 2021, Belfast Whiskey Week brought it north for a warm and revealing Introduction tasting. Session 8 gave attendees their first proper encounter with the Lambay range, three 50ml samples in hand and curiosity well and truly piqued.

About This Event

This tasting includes 3 x 50ml Samples & Glass and will take place on the 24th @ 17:00.

This tasting comprises of:

Tasting packs will be posted out to you, but may not arrive in time for the tastings. If you wish to collect the pack in Belfast to ensure you have it in time, please contact grace@belfastwhiskeyweek.com after you order.

Looking Back

When Belfast Whiskey Week 2021 rolled around on the 24th of July, Session 8 offered something a little different from the Ulster-rooted drams that bookended the festival programme. Lambay Whiskey carries the duchas — the native character — of its island home into every bottle, and this introductory tasting was designed precisely to let that spirit breathe. Three carefully chosen expressions formed the tasting flight, each one a distinct chapter in the Lambay story.

The session opened with the Small Batch Blend, a Bourbon cask-matured whiskey given a Cognac cask finish — a combination that speaks to Lambay's close relationship with the LVMH-backed Camus Cognac house. That Cognac influence is no marketing flourish; it genuinely shapes the whiskey, lending a dried fruit richness and a warmth that sits beautifully alongside Irish grain character. Attendees found it an accessible but genuinely interesting dram — a fine opening handshake.

The Irish Blended Malt was the session's middle act, and arguably its most layered. Drawing together double and triple distilled Single Malt Bourbon cask whiskeys before a Cognac cask finish, it showcased how the blending tradition and the island ethos can coexist without compromise. For those who had already explored the festival's broader Irish programme — including the Session 22 Sexton Deconstruction Showcase and the various Bushmills cask finish sessions — this expression offered a thought-provoking contrast: quieter, more contemplative, shaped by a different geography entirely.

The flight closed with a Cask Strength Single Cask Single Malt finished in Cognac cask — the kind of dram that rewards patience and attention. At full strength, the Cognac influence became more pronounced, the wood giving structure to what was a genuinely expressive whiskey. It was a confident closing note for an introductory tasting, and left more than a few attendees keen to dig deeper into the range. For those who wanted to broaden their festival experience further, the Bushmills Causeway Collection MasterClass offered a fascinating counterpoint from the north coast — proof that Irish whiskey in 2021 was a category of genuine breadth and ambition.

Tasting packs were posted out ahead of the event, though the organisers wisely offered a Belfast collection option for those who wanted to guarantee their samples arrived in good time. It was a small logistical detail, but one that mattered — sláinte is hard to raise without something in the glass. Lambay may hail from the Irish Sea rather than the Sheugh, but Session 8 made it feel right at home in Belfast.