The 19th Hole: Late Night BBQ & Rare Drams | Belfast Whiskey Week 2025

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

Filed: 15 Jul 2025
By: Belfast Whiskey Week
Read: 5 min
Ref: BWW/25/052

When the final putt dropped on the 18th green at Royal Portrush and the 153rd Open Championship drew to its breathless close, Belfast Whiskey Week had the answer to every golfer's and whiskey lover's most pressing question: where do we go now? The answer was The Harrison, and the occasion was The 19th Hole: Late Night BBQ & Exclusive Drams — an after-dark, open-air, glass-in-hand celebration that felt as natural to this city as the Antrim hills on the horizon.

About This Event

The Open is here and we all want something to do when the last ball drops down on the 18th Green.

With the 153rd Open at Royal Port Rush taking place this weekend, we thought we’d have a little bit of fun with some of our Whiskey Tastings. Keep an eye out for these very special tastings that bring you championship style whiskey experiences.

Belfast Whiskey Week in Collaboration with the Harrison will give you the chance to explore the 19th Hole; a perfect way to round-off the Open Friday through to Sunday. Savour a late night BBQ , with Cocktails and sip on the Finest, Rare & Exclusive Whiskies from Ireland.

You’ll have a bespoke whiskey tasting in the distinct and charming bar and lounge, curated and delivered by a whiskey expert, with cocktails served on arrival, developed specially for the 19th Hole in conjunction with Belfast’s Award-winning Mixologist Duo; Liquid Minds. Your ticket will also include our - on the terrace BBQ, where you’ll get to taste great Northern Irish grass-fed Beef and other superb local produce.

Finer things do exist, but they don’t look, taste and make you feel like this. Let’s celebrate the golf and explore the Whiskey Festival in Belfast’s most Unique Bohemian Bolthole Hotel.

Looking Back

There is a particular magic to Belfast on a summer evening when something big is happening down the road. The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush cast a long, golden shadow across the city all week, and Belfast Whiskey Week leaned into that energy with characteristic warmth and good sense. On the night of Sunday 20th July, The Harrison opened its doors — and its terrace — for an event that married the ritual of the post-round dram with the very best of what this festival does: rare whiskey, serious craft, and the kind of craic that doesn't need manufactured atmosphere because the room already has it.

Guests arrived to find cocktails waiting — not an afterthought, but bespoke creations developed specifically for the 19th Hole by Belfast's own Liquid Minds, the award-winning mixologist duo whose understanding of Irish spirits is as deep as it is imaginative. The welcome drink set the tone immediately: this was not a promotional evening dressed up in festival clothes. It was a considered experience, with every element — glass, garnish, and greeting — placed with purpose. The Harrison itself is a venue that earns its reputation; elegant without being stiff, bohemian without being chaotic, it holds the contradictions of Belfast's personality with easy grace.

The whiskey tasting that followed was the heart of the evening. A curated flight of rare and exclusive Irish whiskies, delivered by an expert guide who brought genuine seanchas — that sense of inherited knowledge and storytelling — to each pour. These were not drams you encounter on a Tuesday night; bottles selected for their provenance, their character, and their ability to reward attention. Attendees who had spent their day at Portrush watching the world's finest golfers shape shots across that extraordinary links found themselves doing something not entirely different: reading the lie of the land in a glass, following the line, appreciating the precision it takes to make something this good. Those looking to explore more of the week's championship-themed experiences can find the companion event Par 4: A Little Birdie well worth a look, and the full programme offered plenty of ways to extend the Open week in fitting style.

Out on the terrace, the BBQ was no afterthought. Northern Irish grass-fed beef — the kind of produce that benefits from the same damp, mineral-rich ground that feeds the barley in so many of the country's finest distilleries — arrived properly cooked and accompanied by local produce that felt like a deliberate statement of place. Uisce beatha and fire-grilled beef; it is an ancient pairing, whatever the setting, and here it felt exactly right. The night air above Belfast City Centre, the low murmur of a city still fizzing from a week of championship golf, the smell of smoke and charred meat drifting over the sound of conversation — this was duchas wearing its finest clothes. For those curious about how the wider festival explored Irish whiskey that week, the Belfast Whiskey Week Map gives a sense of just how thoroughly the city gave itself over to the uisce beatha in 2025.

The 19th Hole worked because it understood what people needed at the end of a long, brilliant, exhausting week of sport: not another formal event, but a place to land. The Harrison provided exactly that — and Belfast Whiskey Week, in collaboration with the venue and with Liquid Minds, wrapped it in whiskey warm enough to make you forget the long drive home. For those who were there, it will stand as one of the cleaner memories of BWW2025. For those who weren't, well — there is always next year, and the festival's full range of experiences can be found across the companion 19th Hole session listings for planning purposes. Sláinte mhaith.