Teeling Whiskey Cocktail 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: 4 min
Ref: BWW/23/804

There are few better ways to close out a whiskey festival than with your sleeves rolled up, a jigger in hand, and Teeling Irish Whiskey at the centre of it all. On the final Saturday afternoon of Belfast Whiskey Week 2023, Event 96 did exactly that — drawing a full house to the Angel & Two Bibles Cocktail Lounge for a session that was equal parts education, craft, and pure craic.

About This Event

A Great opportunity to taste Teeling Irish Whiskey through the power of Cocktails, where you are part of the process. Teeling Whiskey has grown to real prominence around the world as a leading brand and distillery. We are excited to partner with Top Mixologist; Neil McDonald at the stunning Angel & 2 Bibles Cocktail Lounge. Neil, in partnership with Teeling Ambassadors has curated three bespoke Cocktails, that you’ll have the chance to make and then drink. Nibbles, Drams & Cocktails to start off our Saturday Afternoon on the Last Day of the Festival, what else do you need? Timeslot: 3pm-6pm Start Time: 3pm Duration: 2.5hrs Venue: Angel & Two Bibles Drinks: 3 Drinks 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 Angel & Two Bibles is a venue that earns its keep. Tucked into Belfast's city fabric with the kind of atmosphere that makes you want to linger, it proved the perfect setting for Teeling's particular brand of ambition. The Liberties of Dublin may be a sheugh or two away, but when Teeling opened there in 2015 — the first new whiskey distillery in the city for over 125 years — it sent a signal that Irish whiskey was ready to break from convention. That same restless energy was very much present on Saturday the 29th of October.

Mixologist Neil McDonald led the session with the confidence of someone who genuinely loves what he does. Working alongside Teeling's own brand ambassadors, Neil had crafted three bespoke cocktails that didn't simply use whiskey as a base spirit — they asked questions of it. Each serve was designed to illuminate something particular about Teeling's character: the approachability, the cask-finish complexity, the willingness to push at the edges of what Irish whiskey can be. Attendees weren't passive observers here. They made the drinks themselves, guided through each step, measuring and mixing and — eventually, satisfyingly — tasting their own work. It's one thing to be handed a finished cocktail. It's quite another to have earned it.

Nibbles circulated throughout, and the drams that bookended the cocktail-making gave the session a generous, unhurried quality. For a 3pm–6pm slot on the last day of the festival, the energy in the room was impressively sharp — testament to both the calibre of the company and the fact that Teeling, as a brand, tends to attract people who are genuinely curious rather than just thirsty. The seanchas of Irish whiskey ran through the afternoon in easy conversation between guests, ambassadors, and Neil himself. No lecterns, no PowerPoint — just people who knew their uisce beatha and were glad to share it.

It's worth noting the broader context Teeling occupied across BWW 2023. From showcase sessions to their celebrated Tribal Burger takeover events, they brought Dublin's craft whiskey revolution north with real commitment. This cocktail masterclass was a fittingly hands-on capstone. If you missed it, the full Teeling range is worth exploring at your leisure — and if you're tracing the Irish whiskey thread through the festival, the McConnell's Irish Whisky: Back in Belfast session earlier that week made for a compelling companion piece, rooting another strand of the island's whiskey story firmly in this city. For those who prefer to follow the map, our Whiskey Map charts the wider landscape of distilleries and producers who've made Belfast Whiskey Week their home.

Event 96 was, in the end, exactly what the final afternoon of a festival should be: warm, generous, skill-building, and just a little bit gleeful. Sláinte to Teeling, to Neil McDonald, and to everyone who left Angel & Two Bibles that evening with sticky hands and a new party trick.