The landscape and legacy of Burren Irish Whiskey

The mystical and unique blend of ‘Sean Gael’, a heritage, Super Premium Single Malt whiskey, is now available to both shrewd whiskey investors looking to add a truly unique jewel to their cask portfolio and a release for the non investor with a extremely limited number of bottles being made available.

Landscape and legacy inspired founder and Ballyvaughan native Noel O’Loughlen to enter the world of whiskey making. It all stemmed from his childhood when his family and friends would gather around an open fire telling stories of the fearless Ó Lochlainn clan who once ruled the Burren, a vast limestone canvas spanning North West Clare and sprawling out into South Galway.

But beyond the lore, it was the ancient art of whiskey distilling in the rich fertile soil of the Burren that intrigued him. With a seasoned career already established in the wines and spirits business, he wondered could he recreate the smooth blend of old, an authentic taste drawn only from heritage barley, malted on site and natural spring water which flows down the Cappanwalla Mountain to his own well? It worked. It has yielded a whiskey as original as it is exceptional.

“We call it Sean Gael, a heritage whiskey that takes time and patience,” explains O’Loughlen, himself a proud descendent of the Ó Lochlainn clan, whose devotion to recreating a whiskey once savoured and enjoyed by his ancestors is testament to his family name’s ancient motto, ‘De Petra Melle’, or ‘to honey from the rocks’. “We are not like contemporary whiskey distillers who can make vast amounts of their product in a shorter amount of time.We are harking back to an age of slow distillery that predates modern day Irish whiskey relying on a manual process throughout the maturation and fermentation, and involving only tools and casks made from wood.”

In a fast-paced modern world, prioritising time is a rarity. The compulsion to mass produce against a backdrop of healthy competition is always there. Not so for O’Loughlen and his team who work quietly in the background producing a whiskey born out of nature and storytelling and nursed back to the 21st Century. His meticulous ways have paid off. In addition to heritage barley grown exclusively for this passionate revival the secret to any great whiskey is in the malting. Burren Distillers hand turn their barley in the traditional way on site using wooden tools to create an in house malt mash which maximises the flavour.

“The distillery produced its maiden barrels in June 2019, and these are just reaching five years of maturation,” explains O’Loughlen, who has been on the journey every step of the way. “Our distilling is treble distilled and then matured in non-bourbon barrels because back when it was first made, there was no caramel available to change the colour and add flavour. However, they had plenty of honey to use in the barrels and that was once classified as the only sweetener, and we have stayed true to using that idea. What you find is that each year adds new dimension to the nose, taste and finish of the whiskey and we stay true to our own Irish Oak casks because stainless steel or chemicals weren’t even invented in the 13th Century.”

And so this exceptional whiskey is no longer the preserve of Burren clansmen and industrious monks at the nearby Corcomroe Abbey, a 13th century Cistercian Monastery. Indeed its revival and monumental maiden voyage present a limited investment opportunity with this super premium single malt whiskey.

“I don’t think anyone in the last three generations would have tasted a whiskey like ours. You’re getting the original style or what your great, great, great grandfather would have drank.”

Those who invest join an exclusive cohort called ‘The Brehon Circle’, so named for Medieval Brehon Law which was indigenous to Ireland and promoted gender equality and concern for the environment, a code that lived long in the hearts of Burren natives. The investor route is well suited to a whiskey that is so utterly unique, a revival of another time. It represents a once in a lifetime opportunity to capitalise on the first whiskey of its kind distilled in the World in over 100 years.

“Out of all the 48 distilleries in Ireland, we are not just the only ones to revive and successfully make whiskey according to an ancient, indigenous method, but we are also the first to offer an alternative investment opportunity in addition to our barrel investment options,” says O’Loughlen.

O’Loughlen calls this investment opportunity a vertical collection. Vertical because as the whiskey matures in age the investor shares in the benefits of the maturation process. “You’ll have the opportunity to taste and own in your collection each significant ageing milestone of this unique super premium whiskey from maiden barrel to its evolution as it matures to a 15 year old spirit.”

The vertical collection investment at €3,500 will appeal to those who would like to accumulate special release bottles at home throughout the decade of their investment. For this investment you will receive:

This vertical collection in addition yields to the investor a supplementary annual bottle of 5 year release for each year of the investment 2024-2034, bringing the total number of bottles returned for your investment in this opportunity to 16 by 2034.

“Just five of our maiden barrels are released under this investment venture,” says O’Loughlen “If anything I’m a class of historian. For me the driving force behind this venture was a curiosity about the old ways and a grá for this place, my home. I heard many tales of the heritage of whiskey making in this place long ago and tasting this spirit resurrected today is quite a thrill.”

To celebrate the distillery reaching a landmark 5th birthday the Burren Distillers have decided to release a small number of individual bottles to offer an opportunity to those for whom investment isn’t their path to share in the celebration of a resurrection of an authentically Irish tradition lost to modern innovations. As the old saying goes “ni bheith a leithead ann aris”, there will never be another release like this at this distillery whose focus is on barrel investment.

“Like fine wines, there is a greater awareness of Irish whiskey on the global market thanks to many of our market leaders. Our whiskey is something more original and refined, with small yields of barley grown here in Ireland, over huge amounts of imported barley used by other manufacturers. Including the Irish oak barrels which we make, our whiskey process is 100 per cent Irish. Our pride is in growing our own ingredients, making our own casks, using Irish oak wooden vats and casks in mashing and fermentation and staying true to tradition.

Just to have seen our success and a product steeped in history revived makes us very proud of what we have achieved, and how opening up these bottles and barrels can allow those who are interested invest and become part of our Brehon Circle.”

Supporting this revival of an ancient Irish art in this most uniquely Irish of places.

To find out more about these investment opportunities, see burrendistillers.com or email hello@burrendistillers.com