Leo Phelan: Pre-1980s Whiskey Masterclass | Belfast Whiskey Week 2023

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

Filed: 15 Jul 2023
By: Belfast Whiskey Week
Read: 6 min
Ref: BWW/23/140

There are evenings at Belfast Whiskey Week that feel less like events and more like privileges — and the Friday night session with Leo Phelan at The Regency on Upper Crescent was firmly, gloriously, in that category. Settled into the opulent surroundings of one of Belfast's most distinguished addresses, guests were handed a passport back through time: six drams of pre-1980s Irish whiskey, most of which had never crossed these particular lips before, and some of which had scarcely crossed anyone's in living memory. This was uisce beatha in its most historic, most humbling form.

About This Event

With the Striking Recency on Upper Crescent, we have designed an Elegant Series of Bespoke Collaborations with Belfast’s most Desirable of Residences. We want you to Savour Historic Whiskies, Meet New Faces and Experience the Attention to Detail and Opulence as well as the Excellent Customer Care that the team at the Regency has to offer. In This Session (2 of 6), On the Sofa with…”Leo Phelan” (Pre-1980’s Whiskey), we delve into some really rare, and rather unusual whiskies distilled between the 1950s and the 1980s. The majority of these bottles are museum pieces, kept as a reminder of our whiskey heritage and for the collectors to flex and display, or for those looking to make a few quid later in life… People don’t open these! Expect to have great knowledge imparted by one of the founders of the Irish Whiskey Society, and past President; as Leo takes us through an intimate tasting of whiskies some of you may never have heard of, all of which I doubt you have tasted, and if you have recently, then you have paid dearly for the privilege. We have some exceptional drams and bespoke cocktails for you to sip, accompanied with local produce; while you get comfy and discover the fascinating history of our beloved Whiskey Industry. Timeslot: 6pm-9pm Start Time: 6pm Duration: 2.5hrs Venue: The Regency Drinks: 6 Drams Type: Masterclass Disclaimers Please note that individual dietary requirements are not being catered for with any food at this event. Each Brand/Distillery and Collaborative Partner have agreed to our Min/Max Pour Policy. Please Respect this, and enjoy your festival responsibly. Festival Participants who are deemed to be too inebriated, or are not respecting themselves, will not be permitted into events and venues. ALL Hosts/Ushers/Collaborators and Venue Staff have the right to refuse participants without question and recourse. Please Drink Responsibly. All events are only available to those 18 years old and over. Do not purchase tickets if you are under the age of 18. Be prepared to produce ID if required. Venue staff & ushers may ask you to provide ID when showing your valid tickets. You may be refused enter to events if you can’t prove your age. Some venues may change, if they do, you will be notified. All events are subject to changes out of the control of the festival organisers. Any issues, please contact us @belfastwhiskeyweek on socials, or via email on marketing@belfastwhiskeyweek.com or 07773675179 (8am-8pm) to discuss. NO Refunds will be given. Please only buy tickets if you are prepared to attend the event. Tickets are transferable. If you are going to transfer tickets please email, marketing@belfastwhiskeyweek.com

Looking Back

The Regency is a venue that earns its reputation quietly, through the kind of attention to detail that you notice without being told to. Arriving on a cool Friday evening in October 2023, guests were received with the warmth and precision that defines the space — and almost immediately, it became clear that the surroundings were perfectly matched to the occasion. This was the second session in Belfast Whiskey Week's Elegant Series, a bespoke collaboration between the festival and some of the city's finest residences, designed to pair exceptional whiskey with exceptional company and setting. There was no stage, no lectern, no distance between host and guest. Just sofas, good light, and an extraordinary man with extraordinary bottles.

Leo Phelan needs little introduction in Irish whiskey circles. A founder and past President of the Irish Whiskey Society, he carries the seanchas — the living tradition, the inherited knowledge — of a movement that spent decades tending a near-extinct flame before the world finally caught on. To sit with Leo is to understand that Irish whiskey's recent renaissance was not an accident, but the fruit of quiet, devoted custodianship. And he wore that knowledge lightly, which is the mark of someone who truly has it. He guided the room through each dram with the kind of easy authority that never tips into lecture, drawing out context and character in equal measure.

The whiskies themselves were the real revelation. Distilled between the 1950s and the 1980s, these were bottles that most collectors keep sealed — museum pieces, as the event billing honestly described them, the sort of drams that circulate in conversation far more often than in a glass. To encounter them in pour form, accompanied by local produce and bespoke cocktails crafted with the same spirit of curation, was a genuine duchas moment — a connection to heritage that felt earned rather than performed. Some labels were barely familiar; others were names whispered reverently in whiskey rooms but rarely tasted. Each one told a story about an industry that had survived contraction, closure, and near-oblivion, and had emerged — slowly, stubbornly — into the world it inhabits today. For those interested in exploring how that story continues in the present tense, the Dunville's Core Range Exploration offered a compelling and complementary perspective across the 2023 programme.

The evening ran for two and a half hours, and not a minute felt wasted. Conversation moved freely between the drams, the decades, and the broader landscape of whiskey heritage — the kind of talk that benefits from a comfortable seat and no particular hurry. Those who attended the parallel session, On the Couch with Marty McAuley, which also explored pre-1980s whiskies, will have come away with a sense of just how rich and varied that era was — and how much remains to be discovered by those willing to look. Leo's session complemented Marty's beautifully, the two events forming an unofficial diptych of living whiskey history.

At £250 a head, this was not an event for the uncommitted — but for those who sat in that room on Upper Crescent, the value was self-evident before the second dram was poured. This is what Belfast Whiskey Week does at its most considered: it creates the conditions for genuine discovery, places the right people in the right rooms, and trusts that the whiskey and the company will do the rest. Sláinte mhaith, Leo. And thank you to The Regency for holding the space so well. If evenings like this stir your curiosity about what the wider festival has to offer, take a look at our Whiskey Map for a sense of the full landscape.