Ballykeefe Irish Whiskey Distillery Tour

Experience "the water of life" at BallyKeefe Distillery

Birthplace of Irish Whiskey
Kilkenny city is the medieval capital of Ireland. It has a unique heritage and tradition steeped in a history which is clearly evident as you walk through the narrow streets with its beautiful architecture and landmarks. It also holds the unique distinction of being the birthplace of Irish Whiskey!
The first written account of distilling in Ireland comes from Kilkenny way back in 1324. It was written in the Red Book of Ossory and the word "whiskey" is in fact an Anglicisation of the Gaelic phrase, uisce beatha, meaning "water of life".
At Ballykeefe Distillery we are now bringing the "water of life" from centuries past to a new generation for their pleasure and good health.

From OUR fields to YOUR glass – The only distillery in the Republic of Ireland to grow our own crop, Ballykeefe Distillery is the first farming distillery in Ireland for over 200 years!
Ballykeefe Distillery produces a super-premium whiskey, truly exceptional gin aswell as a special vodka at our eco-friendly on farm distillery in the picturesque Kilkenny countryside.
We grow our barley on our family farm here in the picturesque Kilkenny countryside. This is very important to us as we can assure you, that our barley is grown to the highest quality and receives plenty of the South East's beautiful sunshine. Once our barley has reached peak ripeness it is harvested. With the natural factor of the crystal-clear water, home grown barley, and the craftsmanship of our award-winning master distiller, Jamie, we use the traditional Irish method of triple distillation for our premium spirits. Distillation in our stunning copper pot stills results in more fully flavoured spirit. Alas, we are not finished adding flavour, we store the spirit in our used seasoned wooden casks, and after a spell of time there, mother nature helps once again, with our beautiful Kilkenny climate influencing the rate of maturation and enabling the development of particular aromas, sensational smells and caramelised flavours.
The straw that comes from the harvest, is used as bedding for the cattle during the winter months, and the ale that’s made in the brew house here in the distillery, is extremely high in protein and we feed that back to our cattle here on the farm.

Ecologically Friendly - this is the major factor as to why we are different.
The distillery was established to complement and diversify the family farm. Morgan & Anne Ging wanted to revive a lost tradition of family farm distilling and in so doing hand on to their children as a more diverse, ecological and sustainable operation than when they started farming. The family farm began as a beef and tillage operation. The creation of the first whiskey distillery in Kilkenny in over 200 years revives a lost tradition of using home grown barley to produce the spirits and feeding the by-products to the cattle on the farm. This makes us uniquely a grain to glass operation with no off-farm by-products contaminating the environment. This makes us 100% self sustainable.

The Ballykeefe Irish Distillery Tour itself :
We will meet & greet you as you arrive for your Irish distillery tour ay Ballykeefe, welcoming you to our visitor’s centre. Your Irish distillery tour will show you and explain all elements of our operation at Ballykeefe Distillery. You will hear about the history of distilling in Kilkenny through the ages, the real origin of whiskey distilling. There will also be an opportunity to hear first-hand about the distillation process from our award winning Master Distiller Jamie. Finally, on completion of our Irish Distillery Tour we offer a tasting of the world’s best eco-friendly spirits that will convince you it is truly the "water of life". The Ballykeefe Distillery whiskey tasting room was transformed from the horses stable and has been renovated to offer an esquist environment to sample a range of our fantastic products, which you are certain to enjoy even more upon knowing their history and the craftsmanship devoted to their making.