

November 2014
Adventure
That’s where we are now, off to work on a dream some years in the making. I would like to thank all of you for the challenge...
To enter the Sliabh Liag Distillers website you must be of legal drinking age in your country.
By entering your date of birth and clicking enter, you confirm that you’re above legal drinking age.
You must have cookies enabled to use this website.
By entering this site you agree to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy & Cookies Notice.
This journey started a long time ago but the dream only became a reality when we finally moved back to Donegal in 2014. So far we have one distillery off the ground and The Silkie Irish Whiskey and An Dúlamán Irish Maritime Gin are now being consumed on four continents. We have started building our new whiskey distillery and we have designed the whiskeys that we will make. The following charts our milestones and musings along the way.
That’s where we are now, off to work on a dream some years in the making. I would like to thank all of you for the challenge...
It feels good to be “home” and if you believe in serendipity then try this on for size. Moira and I moved the family to our "home" in Ireland...
I have always needed a cause, to make a difference and make things better than when I found them. For much of my career I have managed to find that...
Read MoreEventful week this one, had a meeting with Udárás down in Ballymoon, that yielded a networking opportunity...
Read MoreIt is quite astonishing how much money local charities can generate. This small rural community in what the government would no doubt class as a “disadvantaged” area generates more than €20,000...
Read MoreWell the New Year has started with a splish splosh, we seem to have had more rain this year than in the last ten tears and there has been plenty of flooding in the midlands and my heart goes out to the poor souls in Athlone...
Read MoreWe were working on the launch of The Silkie this week which has filled every waking moment to get everything done. It’s exciting, nerve racking and game changing for us so we will be giving it our all, just hope we have enough whiskey...
Read MoreThat’s was some night, lessons to be learned for sure but great night...
Excited and relieved that the plans have been submitted. Cornerstone have done us proud and the building looks beautiful. It is amazing...
Read MoreWell she is free to beguile now. The first Silkie’s have been released onto the Irish market and we are being very clear that this is a blend of whiskies and an independent bottling...
Read MoreA weekend of very mixed emotions.
We were delighted that Donegal County Council issued their decision to GRANT planning permission for the Sliabh Liag Distillery...
Well that was a palaver. An Taisce appealed Donegal County Councils planning grant as we all expected they would. A desire to preserve the area in aspic is laudable but doing so in a way that weakens the community cant be right...
Read MoreElated, the end to an extraordinarily difficult period...
Read MorePerhaps a better heading for this one would be from Lola to Meabh – a most unexpected journey...
Read MoreOMG what a day. Dougy (Hibernian bars) who made the bar showed me a sketch weeks ago and said don’t worry James & Moira, I’ll build you a beautiful bar you just have to trust me...
Read MoreWe said from the beginning that we would always launch locally first and that’s just what we have done...
Read MoreGo to the An Dúlamán Irish Maritime Gin brand page
Read MoreThe multi award-winning An Dúlamán Irish Maritime Gin, the first to be produced in remote County Donegal, is available to UK...
Read MoreMoments matter. I remember hearing Brian Noble the renowned rugby league coach talking about an individual being accountable and delivering "in the moment" and how this has a galvanising effect on the team that yields another moment and another and with each subsequent moment you start to recognise momentum.
Read MoreIt’s been a roller coaster of a summer that has culminated with us making the difficult but correct decision to depart Carrick and relocated the whole operation to Ardara, the pretty market town of festivals just a 18 minutes away.
Read MoreAnd breathe . . .
It has been an exciting few days finalizing the designs for the new distillery in Ardara...
In the run up to Father’s Day on Sunday, June 16th, Selfridges & Co have teamed up with The Legendary Silkie Irish Whiskey...
Read MoreAn Dúlamán Irish Maritime Gin Reveals ‘Santa Ana’ – their cask-aged Armada Strength Gin.
Read MoreSliabh Liag Distillers reveal new premium vodka.
Read MoreIt has been a strange day of excitement, butterflys and being secretive. We’ve been setting up at Taste of Donegal which is always fun and you can feel the excitement build as you set up the stand and catch up with the great and the good of the Donegal food and drink scene...
Read MoreWe secured planning in July 2015, then won our appeal to An Bord Pleanala in January 2016 and thought we could quickly move on with the distillery build. We did not imagine that the narrow self-interest that was holding us and the parish community of Glencolmcille to ransom would elect to litigate...
Read MoreThe award-winning and legendary Silkie blended Irish whiskey has undergone a few small yet significant changes...
Read MoreWe always enjoy whiskey live, a unique opportunity to reconnect with the community of distillers, blenders, ambassadors and most important whiskey drinkers...
Read MoreSliabh Liag Distillers receive sign off on planning permission
Read MoreA love letter to the Donegal coast: How a seaweed gin is reviving a local distilling tradition...
Read MoreThe first steps to distilling in Ardara started today with the diggers rolling into the site to put in place the potential flood mitigation works...
Read MoreConfidence is a funny thing and inner resilience probably the most under-emphasised quality that the entrepreneur needs to survive the slings and petty barbs flung by the nay-sayers and know-it-alls (who know little as it turns out)...
Read MoreAs with just about every distiller in the country we were off to Prowein in Dusseldorf with a full set of meetings arranged and a few catch ups with industry buddies but it is all off. Everything cancelled. The pandemic impact is getting very real and the levels of uncertainty are going through the roof...
Read MoreDonegal based distiller and former midwife Moira Doherty has switched gears in her business to join the national effort to fight COVID-19...
Read MoreIt’s a strange time for sure and the only thing that is clear is that the political classes are floundering - in a world of soundbites and faux certainty where no one ever wants to deliver bad news- the idea that we can have certainty at the time of this pandemic seems pretty alien to me...
Read MoreSliabh Liag Distillers Reveals a Darker Side with The Legendary Dark Silkie...
Read MoreAbout a year ago we first started talking about crowdfunding as a route and focused on Crowdcube as the partner. Their enthusiasm for our distinctive story and understanding of their investor group is probably what convinced us that fundraising in a pandemic was viable...
Read MoreWhen came we home to reclaim the distilling heritage of Donegal the dream seemed like a long way off, but today our Grandads and most certainly Poppa would be very proud this evening. After 2 long weeks a concerted team effort, an immense amount of hard work and some help from Seamus and Edward at Football Special and David Stapleton at Connacht Whiskey we have distilled the first legal whiskey in Donegal since 1841.
We distil and blend whiskeys the way we like them and you will know by now that soft hard spirits is our thing. I’m a mood drinker and whether it’s a blend or a malt for pleasure it always has ice, I’ve even been known to add a mixer (but don’t tell anyone). Maybe is a hangover from our time in Zimbabwe and Malawi.
Read MoreFollowing investment from Japanese drinks company Asahi and a group of 20 shareholders including ex-drinks industry figures, the future of Donegal-based Sliabh Liag Distillers is looking rosy...
Read MoreSo why are spirits enjoying a second coming? And no, we don’t think it is because the pandemic has driven us all to drink. On the contrary, people are drinking less than generations before them as consumers become increasingly health-conscious. What we are in fact seeing is consumers are choosing quality over quantity, provenance over glister and discovery over the obvious in order to make an experience of their chosen drinks.
Read MoreWith our picturesque 10 acre site by the banks of the Owentocker river now fully prepared, work proper has commenced on the new distilling building. Quite literally, a landmark occasion!
Read MoreThe strategy and execution for raising the money to reclaim the distilling heritage of Donegal is one I have drawn up and refined whenever we hit a significant mile stone. It has meant for multiple fundraising rounds and a really strong group of backers but we always wanted to go down the crowd funding route – not least because it brings a fantastic troupe of ambassadors and supporters who might otherwise not had the chance to own a piece of their own distillery...
Read MoreFollowing from the success of The Legendary Silkie Irish Whiskey, Dark Silkie and Dark Silkie Cask Strength, Sliabh Liag Distillers are set to release their new limited edition, The Legendary Red Silkie Irish Whiskey. Drawing inspiration from perhaps one of the most famous sons of Donegal, Red Hugh O’Donnell, often referred to as Aodh Rúa. Red Silkie has been carefully finished in two types of wine cask giving a balanced and sweet fruit complexity to the award-winning Silkie Irish Whiskey blend...
Read MoreNoooooooooooo, not again, not another delay. We really don’t need this but getting control of this damned virus spread is the priority. The release of lock down at Christmas looked populist and high risk. And so it has proved. Another spike in cases and construction is closed down.
Read MoreThe opening up of the USA is remarkable. A year ago we met Henry and by July we were shipping to him and America has taken to our Silkies...
Read MoreThe team at Sliabh Liag Distillers is celebrating after winning gold and silver medals at the World Whiskies Awards. The Legendary Silkie Irish Whiskey won a gold medal and was named overall winner of the blended whiskey (non age statement category) and their Legendary Dark Silkie was awarded a silver medal, adding two new accolades to a growing list for The Silkie Collection...
Read MoreI’m not one for unicorns though our granddaughter Lola would not thank me for saying it. That said I have watched entries being prepared for competitions and known that great store was put on them. I have felt proud when they have been won, been part of the collective euphoria and sense of accomplishment when the press release was circulated...
Read MoreLegendary Dark Silkie Irish Whiskey Awarded Best Irish Blended Whiskey at San Francisco World Spirits Competition...
Read MoreIt always amazes me that when you get into the final stretch of anything how it flies in and suddenly you are there and the whirlwind subsides...
Read MoreThat’s where we are now, off to work on a dream some years in the making. I would like to thank all of you for the challenge...
It feels good to be “home” and if you believe in serendipity then try this on for size. Moira and I moved the family to our "home" in Ireland...
I have always needed a cause, to make a difference and make things better than when I found them. For much of my career I have managed to find that...
Read MoreEventful week this one, had a meeting with Udárás down in Ballymoon, that yielded a networking opportunity...
Read MoreIt is quite astonishing how much money local charities can generate. This small rural community in what the government would no doubt class as a “disadvantaged” area generates more than €20,000...
Read MoreWell the New Year has started with a splish splosh, we seem to have had more rain this year than in the last ten tears and there has been plenty of flooding in the midlands and my heart goes out to the poor souls in Athlone...
Read MoreWe were working on the launch of The Silkie this week which has filled every waking moment to get everything done. It’s exciting, nerve racking and game changing for us so we will be giving it our all, just hope we have enough whiskey...
Read MoreThat’s was some night, lessons to be learned for sure but great night...
Excited and relieved that the plans have been submitted. Cornerstone have done us proud and the building looks beautiful. It is amazing...
Read MoreWell she is free to beguile now. The first Silkie’s have been released onto the Irish market and we are being very clear that this is a blend of whiskies and an independent bottling...
Read MoreA weekend of very mixed emotions.
We were delighted that Donegal County Council issued their decision to GRANT planning permission for the Sliabh Liag Distillery...
Well that was a palaver. An Taisce appealed Donegal County Councils planning grant as we all expected they would. A desire to preserve the area in aspic is laudable but doing so in a way that weakens the community cant be right...
Read MoreElated, the end to an extraordinarily difficult period...
Read MorePerhaps a better heading for this one would be from Lola to Meabh – a most unexpected journey...
Read MoreOMG what a day. Dougy (Hibernian bars) who made the bar showed me a sketch weeks ago and said don’t worry James & Moira, I’ll build you a beautiful bar you just have to trust me...
Read MoreWe said from the beginning that we would always launch locally first and that’s just what we have done...
Read MoreGo to the An Dúlamán Irish Maritime Gin brand page
Read MoreThe multi award-winning An Dúlamán Irish Maritime Gin, the first to be produced in remote County Donegal, is available to UK...
Read MoreMoments matter. I remember hearing Brian Noble the renowned rugby league coach talking about an individual being accountable and delivering "in the moment" and how this has a galvanising effect on the team that yields another moment and another and with each subsequent moment you start to recognise momentum.
Read MoreIt’s been a roller coaster of a summer that has culminated with us making the difficult but correct decision to depart Carrick and relocated the whole operation to Ardara, the pretty market town of festivals just a 18 minutes away.
Read MoreAnd breathe . . .
It has been an exciting few days finalizing the designs for the new distillery in Ardara...
In the run up to Father’s Day on Sunday, June 16th, Selfridges & Co have teamed up with The Legendary Silkie Irish Whiskey...
Read MoreAn Dúlamán Irish Maritime Gin Reveals ‘Santa Ana’ – their cask-aged Armada Strength Gin.
Read MoreSliabh Liag Distillers reveal new premium vodka.
Read MoreIt has been a strange day of excitement, butterflys and being secretive. We’ve been setting up at Taste of Donegal which is always fun and you can feel the excitement build as you set up the stand and catch up with the great and the good of the Donegal food and drink scene...
Read MoreWe secured planning in July 2015, then won our appeal to An Bord Pleanala in January 2016 and thought we could quickly move on with the distillery build. We did not imagine that the narrow self-interest that was holding us and the parish community of Glencolmcille to ransom would elect to litigate...
Read MoreThe award-winning and legendary Silkie blended Irish whiskey has undergone a few small yet significant changes...
Read MoreWe always enjoy whiskey live, a unique opportunity to reconnect with the community of distillers, blenders, ambassadors and most important whiskey drinkers...
Read MoreSliabh Liag Distillers receive sign off on planning permission
Read MoreA love letter to the Donegal coast: How a seaweed gin is reviving a local distilling tradition...
Read MoreThe first steps to distilling in Ardara started today with the diggers rolling into the site to put in place the potential flood mitigation works...
Read MoreConfidence is a funny thing and inner resilience probably the most under-emphasised quality that the entrepreneur needs to survive the slings and petty barbs flung by the nay-sayers and know-it-alls (who know little as it turns out)...
Read MoreAs with just about every distiller in the country we were off to Prowein in Dusseldorf with a full set of meetings arranged and a few catch ups with industry buddies but it is all off. Everything cancelled. The pandemic impact is getting very real and the levels of uncertainty are going through the roof...
Read MoreDonegal based distiller and former midwife Moira Doherty has switched gears in her business to join the national effort to fight COVID-19...
Read MoreIt’s a strange time for sure and the only thing that is clear is that the political classes are floundering - in a world of soundbites and faux certainty where no one ever wants to deliver bad news- the idea that we can have certainty at the time of this pandemic seems pretty alien to me...
Read MoreSliabh Liag Distillers Reveals a Darker Side with The Legendary Dark Silkie...
Read MoreAbout a year ago we first started talking about crowdfunding as a route and focused on Crowdcube as the partner. Their enthusiasm for our distinctive story and understanding of their investor group is probably what convinced us that fundraising in a pandemic was viable...
Read MoreWhen came we home to reclaim the distilling heritage of Donegal the dream seemed like a long way off, but today our Grandads and most certainly Poppa would be very proud this evening. After 2 long weeks a concerted team effort, an immense amount of hard work and some help from Seamus and Edward at Football Special and David Stapleton at Connacht Whiskey we have distilled the first legal whiskey in Donegal since 1841.
We distil and blend whiskeys the way we like them and you will know by now that soft hard spirits is our thing. I’m a mood drinker and whether it’s a blend or a malt for pleasure it always has ice, I’ve even been known to add a mixer (but don’t tell anyone). Maybe is a hangover from our time in Zimbabwe and Malawi.
Read MoreFollowing investment from Japanese drinks company Asahi and a group of 20 shareholders including ex-drinks industry figures, the future of Donegal-based Sliabh Liag Distillers is looking rosy...
Read MoreSo why are spirits enjoying a second coming? And no, we don’t think it is because the pandemic has driven us all to drink. On the contrary, people are drinking less than generations before them as consumers become increasingly health-conscious. What we are in fact seeing is consumers are choosing quality over quantity, provenance over glister and discovery over the obvious in order to make an experience of their chosen drinks.
Read MoreWith our picturesque 10 acre site by the banks of the Owentocker river now fully prepared, work proper has commenced on the new distilling building. Quite literally, a landmark occasion!
Read MoreThe strategy and execution for raising the money to reclaim the distilling heritage of Donegal is one I have drawn up and refined whenever we hit a significant mile stone. It has meant for multiple fundraising rounds and a really strong group of backers but we always wanted to go down the crowd funding route – not least because it brings a fantastic troupe of ambassadors and supporters who might otherwise not had the chance to own a piece of their own distillery...
Read MoreFollowing from the success of The Legendary Silkie Irish Whiskey, Dark Silkie and Dark Silkie Cask Strength, Sliabh Liag Distillers are set to release their new limited edition, The Legendary Red Silkie Irish Whiskey. Drawing inspiration from perhaps one of the most famous sons of Donegal, Red Hugh O’Donnell, often referred to as Aodh Rúa. Red Silkie has been carefully finished in two types of wine cask giving a balanced and sweet fruit complexity to the award-winning Silkie Irish Whiskey blend...
Read MoreNoooooooooooo, not again, not another delay. We really don’t need this but getting control of this damned virus spread is the priority. The release of lock down at Christmas looked populist and high risk. And so it has proved. Another spike in cases and construction is closed down.
Read MoreThe opening up of the USA is remarkable. A year ago we met Henry and by July we were shipping to him and America has taken to our Silkies...
Read MoreThe team at Sliabh Liag Distillers is celebrating after winning gold and silver medals at the World Whiskies Awards. The Legendary Silkie Irish Whiskey won a gold medal and was named overall winner of the blended whiskey (non age statement category) and their Legendary Dark Silkie was awarded a silver medal, adding two new accolades to a growing list for The Silkie Collection...
Read MoreI’m not one for unicorns though our granddaughter Lola would not thank me for saying it. That said I have watched entries being prepared for competitions and known that great store was put on them. I have felt proud when they have been won, been part of the collective euphoria and sense of accomplishment when the press release was circulated...
Read MoreLegendary Dark Silkie Irish Whiskey Awarded Best Irish Blended Whiskey at San Francisco World Spirits Competition...
Read MoreIt always amazes me that when you get into the final stretch of anything how it flies in and suddenly you are there and the whirlwind subsides...
Read More