Why Whiskey Clubs 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/23/396

Some of the most memorable moments at Belfast Whiskey Week don't come from the grand distillery showcases or the headline names — they emerge quietly, late in the evening, in a room full of people who simply love whiskey and want to talk about it honestly. That was the spirit of 52: Why Whiskey Clubs, a Monday night showcase at the Angel & Two Bibles that drew together enthusiasts, club organisers, and curious newcomers to ask a deceptively simple question: why do whiskey clubs matter?

About This Event

In This Session Paul Kane and Annie Bethell will ask the question: Why Whiskey Clubs? We get the chance to discuss the relevance and importance of Whiskey Clubs, both for us as consumers and the Whiskey Industry. There has been a rise in participant numbers joining Whiskey Clubs around the World, with enthusiastic volunteers putting a lot of time and effort and their own money into creating welcoming clubs where likeminded people come and share whiskies together. The vast amount of on-line communities that exist have also given rise to smaller brands gaining global followings and some with their very own community-led fan clubs or Kults. Expect the chat to start off at learner's pace, before it steam rolls the early afternoon, with personal triumphs, challenges and visions for the future. Let this intimate tasting of Whiskey Club Whiskies, be an opportunity to for you to get your ore in, a chance to talk about your vision of the future of whiskey clubs in Belfast. We have some exceptional drams and bespoke cocktails for you to sip, accompanied with local produce; while you get comfy and discover the taste of whiskies made for clubs. Timeslot: 9pm-12am Start Time: 9pm Duration: 2.5 hrs Venue: Angel & Two Bibles Drinks: 6 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

Hosted by Paul Kane and Annie Bethell, the evening had the feel of a fine seanchas — that Ulster tradition of shared knowledge passed warmly around a room. Beginning at 9pm and running well into the small hours, the session was deliberately paced to start at learner's level before gathering its own momentum. Kane and Bethell were generous guides: informed without being preachy, and genuinely curious about what the people in the room thought, not just what they themselves had to say. It was, in the best possible sense, a conversation rather than a lecture.

The central argument of the evening was one that felt increasingly self-evident as the drams were poured: whiskey clubs are not a peripheral hobby. They are, in many ways, the living duchas of the uisce beatha world — communities of enthusiasts who carry knowledge, enthusiasm, and a spirit of welcome that no marketing budget can manufacture. The rise in club membership worldwide was explored with real depth, from the practicalities of running a club on volunteer time and personal funds, to the remarkable phenomenon of small, independent brands gaining global followings through community-led fan movements and what the hosts affectionately called 'kults'. If you wanted proof that independent bottlers and the club world are intertwined, you needed only to look at the conversations happening around the room — or indeed at the Indie Bottlers: Can We Expect Better? session that ran elsewhere in the festival week.

Six drams of whisky made for or by clubs formed the backbone of the tasting, and they were accompanied by local produce — a lovely touch that grounded the global conversation firmly in Belfast and its tír. The bespoke cocktails were a thoughtful addition too, acknowledging that the club world is broader than the neat-dram purist might sometimes admit. The Angel & Two Bibles, with its intimate character and strong sense of place, was exactly the right venue for the evening — somewhere with its own personality, that didn't compete with the conversation but complemented it.

What made the session genuinely special was its honesty. There was candid talk of the challenges clubs face — the effort required, the personal cost, the question of how to stay relevant as the whiskey world changes rapidly around them. But there was also real vision for what Belfast, in particular, might become as a whiskey destination: a city with its own distinct club culture, rooted in the warmth and directness that the north of Ireland does so well. For context on just how vibrant the local and regional whiskey scene has become, the Glens of Antrim Distillery Showcase and the remarkable Irish-language session Blaiseadh Uisce Bheatha elsewhere in the 2023 programme spoke to the same sense of a scene finding its own confident voice.

Sláinte to Paul, Annie, and everyone who pulled up a seat and got their oar in that night. The question — why whiskey clubs? — had plenty of answers by midnight, and most of them came from the room itself. That felt entirely right.