May Loag Whiskey Tasting | BWW 2021 Introduction Session

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/21/756

There's a particular pleasure in being introduced to something for the first time — in having a dram placed before you and being told, quietly but with conviction, that this one is worth your attention. That was exactly the spirit of Session 11 at Belfast Whiskey Week 2021, when May Loag took the floor for an introductory tasting on the evening of 24th July. Three carefully chosen expressions, three distinct cask stories, and one invitation to get acquainted with a whiskey that carries its Irish identity with quiet confidence.

About This Event

This tasting includes 3 x 50ml Samples & Glass and will take place on the 24th @ 19:00.

This tasting comprises of:

Oriel Blend, Bourbon, Red Wine & Sherry Casks - 40%
Triple Wood Single Malt, Bourbon, Red Wine & Sherry Casks - NAS - 46%
Diamond 10yr Single Malt, Sherry Cask - 46%

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

The session brought together three expressions that together made a compelling case for May Loag's craft and ambition. The evening opened with the Oriel Blend — a Bourbon, Red Wine and Sherry cask whiskey bottled at 40% — and it set the tone well. This is a blend that doesn't hide behind approachability; it wears it openly, and rightly so. The interplay of those three cask influences gave the glass a warmth and depth that rewarded both newcomers and more seasoned palates. It was the kind of whiskey that reminds you why blending, done well, is its own art form.

From there, the tasting moved into the Triple Wood Single Malt — the same bourbon, red wine and sherry cask combination, but now at 46% and carrying a richer, more assertive character. The extra strength opened up the nose considerably, and the red wine cask influence in particular gave the malt a fruitiness that felt genuinely distinctive rather than merely fashionable. No age statement here, but none needed — the whiskey spoke clearly enough. It was one of those NAS expressions that silences the debate simply by being good.

The evening concluded with the Diamond 10 Year Old Single Malt, a sherry cask expression bottled at 46%, and it was a fine way to close proceedings. A decade in sherry wood had given this one depth and a certain gravitas — dried fruits, a hint of spice, and that long, warming finish that makes you reach instinctively for the glass again. For many attendees, this will have been the moment May Loag moved from 'curious discovery' to 'one to seek out'. Belfast Whiskey Week has always been at its best when it makes introductions like this one. If the May Loag session left you wanting to explore the broader world of Irish whiskey cask craft, our Bushmills New Cask Finish Range introduction from the same festival offers a fascinating point of comparison, while the Bushmills Core Malts session provides useful grounding in what single malt can achieve with time and tradition behind it.

Logistics for the session were handled with the characteristic care BWW brings to its online events. Tasting packs — each containing three 50ml samples and a glass — were posted out ahead of time, though attendees were also offered the option to collect in Belfast if timing was tight. It's a small detail, but one that matters: there's a duchas to the way Belfast Whiskey Week approaches hospitality, an understanding that the experience extends well beyond the hour on screen. You could join from a living room in Lisburn or a kitchen in London and still feel, however briefly, part of something rooted in a place.

May Loag is a brand that carries its name with meaning — and sessions like this one are why Belfast Whiskey Week exists: to make those meanings legible, one dram at a time. If you're curious about the wider programme from BWW 2021, you can explore more through our Whiskey Map, which traces the full geography of distilleries and brands that have been part of the festival's story.