Local events for whiskey festival
POWERSCOURT Distillery will host two events in the forthcoming Festival of Irish Whiskey, announced by IrishWiskey360 and Taste the Island.
There will be around 40 events and promotions around Ireland from October 10 to 13. There will be a guided tour and tasting masterclass at Powerscourt Distillery on Thursday, October 10, then whiskey tasting and food pairing on Saturday, October 12.
Andrew Doyle TD, Minister of State for Food, Forestry and Horticulture, unveiled the schedule last week.The planned events and promotions range across free and discounted tours, open days, whiskey tastings and food pairings, cooperage demonstrations, meet the distillers talks and much more. There is a range of free and ticketed events.
Minister Doyle said that the partnering of IrishWhiskey360°, with Taste the Island, realises the FoodWise 2025 commitment that ‘Industry and state agencies (should) work collaboratively to develop an Irish Whiskey and food pairing trail as a major tourist attraction and to differentiate Irish food and drink produce’ while also celebrating the rich heritage of Irish Whiskey.
‘I am very pleased to see that in 2018 there were 923,000 visitors to Irish whiskey distilleries, up 13 per cent compared to 2017 and up 41 per cent compared to 2015, with the number of visitors set to exceed one million in 2019, thus ensuring that the industry remains a significant employer both directly and indirectly through its support of the Irish tourism, agricultural producers, the agri-food sector and the rural economy,’ said Minister Doyle.