The First Family of new Irish whiskey

The Teelings aren’t just a success story in their own right: the arc of their narrative is also the story of modern-day Irish whiskey

Master distiller Alex Chasko and Stephen Teeling of the Teeling Distillery Company Pic: Fergal Phillips

The Irish whiskey sector was dying on its feet in the 1960s when the academic and entrepreneur John Teeling decided to stop writing brilliant academic articles about the problems with Irish manufacturing and business, and see if he could do better.

The preferred solution to the collapsing Irish whiskey category in 1966 was to bolt together as many remaining brands as possible, shut down each of the separate distilleries, and set up a ...