(IWS Dublin) Irish Whiskey Awards Judging 2026 (26 Sep 2026)

Sat, 26 Sep 2026 11:00:00 GMT

Irish Whiskey Awards Judging Days

12th & 19th of September 2026

Doyle's Corner Pub, 160/161 Phibsborough Rd, Dublin 7, D07R26N

Dear Members,

Our friends at Irish Whiskey Awards have kindly extended us some invites to this year's judging process. This will be an in-person event and there are two dates to choose from, so please ensure you register for the correct day. Since slots are limited and the event is free of charge, please only register for one session only to allow other members the opportunity to sign-up.

Details below:

When: 12th & 19th of September

Time: 12:00 - 3:00 PM

Judges will be able to blind taste 2-3 different categories of whiskey in the tasting session. Water, glassware, score-sheets, spittoons etc. will all be provided.

As with all years, there various guidelines and criteria in place: no more than 1cl measures of each whiskey per taster; we encourage the use of spittoons and drinking plenty of water; take breaks between categories and if you start the judging of a category, you must score every whiskey in that category in the same sitting, otherwise all scores for that section will be void.

The score sheets must be returned to the Celtic Whiskey Shop staff member supervising before a taster leaves.

Please choose just one date that you are sure you can attend.

Thank you,

IWS Event Team

IWS Dingle: When Scotch came to Town (02 Oct 2026)

Fri, 02 Oct 2026 18:30:00 GMT

When Scotch Came to Town

After a very short absence, Scotch will make a welcome return to Dingle, after the recent tour de force from Con Collins and the SMWS.

We look forward to returning to An Bothar pub in Cuas where we had an excellent whiskey & food pairing earlier in the year. A beautiful venue for a tasting to welcome in the Dingle Food & Wine Festival that weekend.

This time however, we will explore two distilleries which may not be so familiar to some people, Arran distillery and Glen Allachie distillery. Both of these distillerys, one on an island and one from Speyside are relative newcomers to the Scottish whiskey scene given its rich history.

On December 16, 1994 Construction began on Arran distillery in Lochranza, at the north end of the island. However, Building was shortly halted to allow a pair of golden eagles to nest high in the hills above. The eagles have become a big part of the distillery and come back most years to nest. They can sometimes be seen flying high above the distillery and have been reported to make several 'fly pasts' on big occasions. The very first spirit came off the stills on June 29, 1995. The distillery has gone on to provide a superb single malt, with sublime finishes some of which we will get to taste on the evening.

Construction on Glen Allachie distillery commenced in 1967 and the distillery opened its doors in 1968. In 2017, the legendary Billy Walker came on board after selling his beloved and legendary Glendronach distillery to Brown Foreman. Just 9 months later, the very first range of single malts were released by the Speyside distillery. In 2022, Billy celebrated his 50th year in the whiskey industry and the distillery has grown exponentially since then supplying some abslutely superb whiskey to the masses, some of which we will taste on the evening.

Booking opens immediately. It is necessary to register and complete payment via Stripe (within 15 minutes) to secure your booking. No spaces available? Join the waiting list to be notified as we might be able to get more spots for the event.

N.B. No admittance to persons under 18 years of age

As usual, there will be a bus provided to take attendees to the event. This bus will depart John Benny's pub, Strand Street at 18.45 on the evening and return when the tasting is over.

Event Booking Terms & Conditions: https://www.irishwhiskeysociety.com/IWS-In-Person-Events

Irish Whiskey Society upcoming events

(IWS Dublin) Irish Whiskey Awards Judging 2026 (26 Sep 2026)

Irish Whiskey Awards Judging Days

12th & 19th of September 2026

IWS Dingle: When Scotch came to Town (02 Oct 2026)