The social drinker

Powerscourt is the newest kid on the crowded whiskey block. Having opened for business last summer, the Wicklow distillery released three new whiskies under the Fercullen brand in October, including a 14-Year-Old Single Malt Whiskey that sells for a hefty €90 a bottle.

Curious, I tried this whiskey the other day and enjoyed it very much; it is clearly Irish, but a little different than most other whiskies, thanks to hints of almonds and plums, as well as the reassuring taste that comes from spending 14 years in ex-bourbon barrels.

Perhaps I should not have been too surprised by how good this single malt was

it and the other two Ferculllen whiskies have been developed by Noel Sweeney, a distiller who worked at Cooley Distillery for many years, which makes him a true pioneer in the current whiskey renaissance.

At present, Fercullen can be bought at many independent off-licences and will soon be available at the Powerscourt Distillery itself, which plans to open a visitor centre this year.

It is not difficult to see how this new visitor centre could quickly become popular with Dubliners who like heading to that part of Wicklow anyway, to enjoy one of the most beautiful spots in the country.

During his lonely exile in Trieste, James Joyce once used a map to calculate that it was impossible to cross Dublin without passing a pub. A happy state of affairs, which is probably no longer true. Soon, however, it will be probably be impossible to cross Ireland without passing through a county with its own distillery. Ireland’s distilleries already encompass beauty spots as diverse as the beautiful village of Bushmills; Dingle in the south-west; charming Midleton in Cork; wonderful Sligo; the aforementioned Powerscourt; as well as grittier areas in the capital, such as the Liberties and Smithfield areas.