Former Midleton master distiller Brian Nation returns with an intriguing new whiskey project
With Keeper’s Heart, Nation has blended Irish and American whiskeys and come up with something totally new
In 2020, Brian Nation announced his departure from the master distiller’s role at Midleton, where he had presided over huge international brands like Jameson and Redbreast.
Expectations were high when it was revealed that he had joined the team at the O’Shaughnessy Distillery in Minnesota to work on a brand new style of blending that would involve both Irish and American whiskeys.
The resulting brand is called Keeper’s Heart, and Brian Nation is no longer the only Irishman on the team. One of the whiskey world’s most respected educators and communicators, Ger Garland, is now its global ambassador, and their recent trip to the Cork Whiskey Fest allowed Food&Wine to catch up with them both.
