McConnell's Irish Whisky Showcase | 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: 5 min
Ref: BWW/23/660

There are homecomings, and then there are homecomings. When McConnell's Irish Whisky took up residence in the Duke of York on Saturday 22nd October 2023, it wasn't simply another showcase on the Belfast Whiskey Week calendar — it was a brand walking back into its own story, in the city that wrote it. Five drams, a cocktail welcome, and the promise of something not yet released to the world: this was an evening that carried real weight.

About This Event

Come and be a part of the McConnell's Irish Whisky team at the legendary Duke of York as they proudly showcase their exceptional range of premium whiskies. They’ll also treat you to two special pours, including a sneak peek of a release scheduled for the autumn of this year, perfectly timed to coincide with the opening of the J&J McConnell's Distillery and Visitor's Centre at the historic Crumlin Road Gaol in North Belfast. To enhance your experience, they’ll also serve a delectable entry cocktail and offer delicious nibbles that perfectly complement the whiskies they’re presenting. Join us for an unforgettable evening of whiskey appreciation, delightful flavors, and the warmest of hospitality. Timeslot: 6pm-9pm Start Time: 6pm Duration: 3hrs Venue: The Duke of York Drinks: 5 Drams Type: Showcase 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 Duke of York has its own seanchas — that deep-grained sense of accumulated memory that certain Belfast rooms simply possess. Its narrow walls and low light have absorbed a century of conversation, and on this particular Saturday evening in 2023, they absorbed something else entirely: the warm, grain-rich perfume of uisce beatha being poured with genuine pride. McConnell's had chosen their venue well. There's a fitness to the pairing — a whisky brand with roots running back to 1776, reuniting with a pub that knows how to hold a story without making a show of it.

Guests arrived to a welcome cocktail that did exactly what a good entry drink should: it settled the room, sharpened anticipation, and signalled that the team had thought carefully about the full arc of the evening. The nibbles that followed were similarly well-judged — not a distraction, but a complement, designed to open rather than compete with the whiskies ahead. It was hospitality in the older sense of the word, the kind that comes from knowing your audience rather than performing at them.

The five drams that formed the heart of the evening moved through McConnell's range with the confidence of a brand that has found its footing. McConnell's Irish Whisky is a label with serious ambition underpinning its accessible character — a blend that reaches toward the classic Belfast style, smooth and approachable without ever feeling thin. But it was the two special pours that stopped the room. One was an autumn release still weeks away from the public at the time, offered here as a kind of trust between brand and festival-goer — a glimpse behind the curtain, timed deliberately to coincide with the opening of the J&J McConnell's Distillery and Visitor Centre at Crumlin Road Gaol. That detail mattered. The old Gaol sits heavy with the history of this city's divided past, and to plant a distillery within it is an act of reclamation — turning a place of confinement into one of craft and welcome. For those in the room who understood that context, the preview pour carried an extra resonance that no tasting note could quite capture.

Evenings like this one don't exist in isolation. BWW2023 was rich with events that asked serious questions of Irish and wider whiskey culture — from the thought-provoking Indie Bottlers: Can We Expect Better? panel, which challenged the industry on transparency and quality, to the deeply local pride of the Glens of Antrim Distillery Showcase, where Ulster's landscape spoke through its spirit. McConnell's sat naturally within that conversation — a brand reconnecting with its tír, its place, at precisely the moment Belfast's whiskey revival was gathering genuine momentum.

By nine o'clock, when the evening drew to a close and the last of the Duke of York's warm light spilled out onto Commercial Court, there was a particular quality to the crowd departing — not the loose, hazy satisfaction of a night simply enjoyed, but something more purposeful. People had learned something. They had tasted a future that hadn't yet been announced. And they had shared a few hours with a brand that is, unapologetically and with real dúchas, coming home. Sláinte mhaith to McConnell's for giving Belfast Whiskey Week 2023 one of its most memorable evenings.