History will be made in Co Tyrone today (Saturday), when the Wild Atlantic Distillery in Aghyaran uncasks its first batch of Irish whiskey.
It’s understood the ‘Islandmen’ release will be the first fully licensed and legally distilled Irish whiskey ever made in the county.
It comes six years after Brian and Jim Nash opened the rural distillery near Castlederg and launched a range of gin and vodka.
Saturday marks three years since the pair placed their Co Tyrone-made distillate in a cask in preparation for their first Irish whiskey release.
They chose December 21 2021 as an acknowledgement of the legacy of Derry’s Watt Distillery, which closed in 1921.
The new Irish whiskey is also the first produced in the Derry and Strabane district since the closure of Watt’s Abbey Street distillery a century ago.
Approximately 350 bottles will be drawn from the inaugural cask today.
Around 150 are reserved for members of the distillery’s 1921 Whiskey Club, with 195 bottles due to be sold to the public via a lottery at a price of £464.
“Over one hundred years after the last bottle of whiskey was distilled in the Tyrone/Derry region, we will bottle Islandmen for the first time,” said Jim Nash.
“We are immensely proud to revive the rich tradition of Irish whiskey making in the north west.
“Islandmen pays homage to the past, but we will be certain to raise a glass to the future. It’s a new beginning.”
His brother-in-law Brian Nash added: “The reaction from across the island of Ireland and internationally has been amazing.”
While illicit distilling was rife in counties Tyrone and Donegal in recent centuries, the north west’s licensed commercial whiskey industry was largely based in Derry.
The Watt Distillery was once the largest on the island, spanning eight acres next to the city’s walls on Abbey Street.
Dating back to the 18th century, merchant Andrew Watt took ownership in 1826.
Unlike many distilleries in the south of Ireland, the Watt family later embraced Aeneas Coffey’s patented column still, which resulted in a significant increase in production capability.
Also known as the continuous still, by the late 19th century, it made the Watt Distillery capable of producing two million gallons per year.
