Ireland’s biggest whiskey festival prepares for its 2024 unveiling – don’t miss out

Whiskey Live Dublin kicks off at the RDS on Friday, May 17ns. This two-day, four-session event remains Ireland’s best-attended whiskey event, and this year it’s bigger and better than ever. With a record number of whiskey makers attending, you’ll come face-to-face with some of the biggest brands in the world. 

While almost all of the Irish whiskey industry will be in attendance, you can also talk whisk(e)y with brands like Scotland’s Glengoyne, Bruichladdich and Tamdhu or the United States’s Heaven Hill, Buffalo Trace and Sazerac. From Japan, you’ll discover Nikka, while Mexico is represented by the Irish launch of The Lost Explorer Mezcal.

HOW IT WORKS

There are four tasting sessions: Friday afternoon, Friday evening, Saturday afternoon, and Saturday evening.

Tickets for each session cost €44. This includes entrance to the RDS, free tastings from every exhibitor, a Tuath tasting glass, gift pack, water, bite-sized food pairings, and the chance to register for masterclasses (€10 extra).

You and your glass can visit any of the 105-plus stands, meet the whiskey makers, and have them pour you their wares. 

€10 from each ticket sold is donated to Down Syndrome Ireland. In 2023, some €57,000 went to this important charity NGO.

HERE ARE SOME OF OUR HIGHLIGHTS FROM WHISKEY LIVE 2024:

Exclusive Pours

Brands will be pouring lots of exclusives over the weekend. You’ll find us sampling pours at the Glenallachie and Whistle Pig stands and all the big Irish names, including IDL, West Cork, Dingle, Teeling and Spot. We expect once-off releases, special single-cask pours and Whiskey Live exclusive bottlings.      

Indy Whiskey

Ireland’s independent whiskey makers are the beating heart of the event. Lacking the big marketing budgets of more established brands, this is their chance to catch your eye with their often cutting-edge and small-batch pours.

Killowen, the King of Indy Whiskey Makers, will lead the charge but make sure to track down Killowen’s good friends Two Stacks, indy bottler JJ Corry, single pot still champion Boann, Donegal’s Croithlí  Distillery, Co Cork’s Neri di Kinsale and Waterford’s Distilleria di acque nere among many others.

Master Classes

The master classes at Whiskey Live put you in a room with some of the greatest whiskey brains in the business. Headliners like Pappy Van Winkle e Pettorosso are already sold out.

Still, if you’re fast, you can grab a spot at Nikka, Collezione Bushmills Causeway o Keeper’s Heart with Brian Nation and Ger Garland on Friday evening.

Graham Coull of Dingle will be among those leading the charge on Saturday afternoon, while Bar 1661 will reveal the secrets to their award-winning cocktails on Saturday evening, alongside Fercullan e Teeling masterclasses in adjacent rooms. Full masterclass programme here.

Dream Dram Bar

The Dream Dram bar is back, offering single pours of rare whiskey that is usually so exclusive that bottles are rarely opened in bars. You can purchase 1cl measures of super-rare pours like Pappy Van Winkles, Glendronach single casks, discontinued Teelings, rare Midleton vintages, once-off Redbreasts and more. They’ll all be affordably priced.  

Taste the World’s Best

Co Down’s Distilleria Hinch will be stocking up on both of their world’s best blends for the RDS event, fresh from their wins at the 2024 World Whiskies Awards.

The privately-owned craft distillery won the World’s Best Blended Irish Whiskey for their five-year-old Double Wood release and the World’s Best Limited Release Blended Irish Whiskey for their Craft & Casks Imperial Stout Finish. We’re big fans of Hinch at the Single Malt Shop, so expect to see us in the queue. 

If you’re a peat fan, then try their Peated Single Malt. A winner every time.

Big Name Attractions 

Naturally, this event couldn’t exist without the big-name Irish powerhouses of Jameson, Redbreast, Teeling, Roe & Co, Method & Madness, Bushmills, West Cork and more. Expect to find them in the biggest and best-positioned stands in the house, probably right inside the door.

First-timers

Every year, Whiskey Live Dublin draws in new friends, and this year, they’re joined by a whole new raft of whiskey makers, blenders and bottlers. Whistle Pig is one of those making its first visit to the RDS and pouring select samples from across its range of rye American whiskey. 

Take time to visit Soroghan Irish Whiskey, of Soroghan’s Pub, Dundalk fame, too. They will be pouring their 10—and 15-year-old single malts as well as their blend. Also making its debut at Whiskey Live Dublin is Nikka. This famous Japanese whiskey is a global powerhouse and, in addition to its Japanese distilleries, also owns Ben Nevis Distillery in Scotland. 

Rumour has it that a very well-known celebrity will also attend this year’s event, launching an Irish whiskey to match their global profile. Watch this space.

Get your tickets for Whiskey Live Dublin 2024 here