Hyde Distillery
Legacy of several centuries-old tradition
Hyde (or Hibernia Distillery) is an independent Irish bottler located in Inis Eonáin, County Cork. The distillery (Hyde/Hibernia Distillery) was Established in 2014 by brothers Conor and Alan Hyde. Even if the distillery was recently founded to talk about HYDE Whiskey is to speak about the long drink business history of the Hyde family. In fact they come from a long line of Irish Whiskey Tavern owners, involved in the business for over twelve generations.
The family business started in 1640 with the creation of the famous Taverne «Tinkers Cross», in the West Cork area, where they sold Whiskey and Stout straight from cask for centuries. They operated this Tavern from the 17th century to 1962. «We are an independent company who’s area of expertise is cask management and applying different ‘finishes’ to each of our whiskies. We mature Hyde whiskey in primarily Sherry, Rum & Burgundy casks in a warehouse in Cork. Our Whiskey is handcrafted in very small limited edition batches and non-chill filtered for a more original character.»
Where does the name come from? HYDE is presidential quality Irish whiskey which is named in honour of Ireland’s very first president Douglas Hyde, a very inspirational figure who helped to define Ireland’s sense of national identity. As an academic he played a fundamental role in cataloguing Ireland’s rich cultural history and championing the Irish language.
How big is your production ?
We produce about 75,000 bottles a year.
Why did the creator choose to establish a distillery here ? The Hyde brothers are Cork natives and our whiskey is matured and ‘finished’ at our bonded warehouse in Little Island, Cork Harbour, on Ireland’s South Western Atlantic Coast.The Cork region is famous for its temperate climate, creating the ideal, stable conditions, with perfect humidity, in which to age Irish whiskey.
Where does the name come from?
I would like to speak about our HYDE No. 5 Burgundy finish Our Burgundy red wine casks come from the Burgundy region of France from the Côte d’Or vineyards near Dijon, France. Hyde No.5 is finished in French Ex-Burgundy red wine oak casks (228 litres) from the Côte d’Or, which leads to a wonderfully ruby-red colour in the HYDE No.5 Single Grain and notes of red berry fruit, Vanilla, and toasted oak.The taste is a creamy nutty palette entry with notes of sweet custard, apple peel, red berries and orange blossom honey.
The process of double maturation that we propose makes our whiskeys unique and original.We apply specific ‘charring’ levels to our vintage casks in order to create a whiskey taste that is rich in character and truly unique in flavour. Our whiskey is matured in Little Island, Cork Harbour, on Ireland’s South Western Atlantic Coast.
If you have to describe the distillery, in just 3/4 words ?
Its all about the wood... and innovation.
What does Irish Whiskey mean to you?
Irish whiskey provides the discerning whiskey drinker with a fuller, more complex, flavour and a distinctive personality, with a deep and rich dose of history for good measure.
Do you have future plans ?
Hyde can now be found in over 30 international markets. Our future plan is to continue to grow in the fashion we have been and look to see if we can develop any different and unique cask finishes for our whiskey in the future.We are experimenting with a number of other flavours such as Port, Maderia, IPA & Cognac
Do you have any anecdotes ?
Douglas Hyde (1860–1949), the grand father of the current CEO, was the first president of Ireland from 1938 to 1945, in a difficult historical context...
HYDE Single Malt Irish Whiskey swept the boards at the very prestigious San Francisco World Sprits Competition last year by being named as Best Single Malt Irish whiskey in the world 2016 and by also winning the top DoubleGold Medal for outstanding taste 2016.
(Thank you to Mr. James Kiernan, Sale Manager)