Northern Ireland Whiskey Trail: Distilleries to Visit

Irish whiskey is the fastest-growing spirits category in the world, and Northern Ireland — which has been making the stuff since long before anyone was keeping records — is at the centre of a distillery boom. For decades, the north had one operational distillery: Bushmills. Now there are more than half a dozen, from Belfast to the Causeway Coast, with more in planning. The new generation is ambitious, inventive, and very good.

The result is that you can now build a genuine whiskey trail across Northern Ireland — visiting historic and new distilleries, tasting whiskeys that range from 400-year-old traditions to experimental single malts, and understanding why this small corner of the island produces spirits of global standing.

Here’s where to go.

Old Bushmills Distillery

Start here. You should start here because Bushmills holds a licence to distil dating from 1608, making it the oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world. Whether they’ve been distilling continuously since then is a matter of friendly debate, but the licence is real and so is the whiskey.

The distillery sits in the town of Bushmills on the north Antrim coast, about 3 km from the Giant’s Causeway. The River Bush provides the water. The buildings are a mix of Victorian industrial architecture and modern additions, all immaculately maintained. It smells, as all working distilleries do, of grain and warmth and slow chemistry.

The Tour

The standard guided tour takes about 75 minutes and covers the full production process: malting, mashing, fermentation, triple distillation (the Irish way), and maturation. The guides are excellent — knowledgeable, personable, and visibly proud of the product. The tour finishes with a tasting of three whiskeys, typically including the original blend, the Black Bush, and one of the single malts.

The premium tasting experience is worth the extra cost. It includes older and rarer expressions — the 16-year-old and 21-year-old single malts — in a smaller group setting.

What to Try

Bushmills Original: The flagship blend. Smooth, honeyed, approachable. A solid daily drinker.
Black Bush: A richer blend with a high proportion of malt whiskey aged in sherry casks. Many locals prefer this to the more expensive single malts.
Bushmills 10-Year-Old Single Malt: Light, fruity, and elegant. Triple distilled and aged in bourbon barrels.
Bushmills 16-Year-Old: Aged in bourbon, sherry, and port casks. Complex and layered. Outstanding.
Bushmills 21-Year-Old: Finished in Madeira casks. Rare and expensive. Worth every penny if you’re celebrating something.

Visiting: Open daily year-round. Book tours online. Allow 90 minutes. The gift shop has distillery-exclusive bottlings. It’s an easy combination with a visit to the Giant’s Causeway or a day on the Causeway Coastal Route.

The Craft Distilleries

Titanic Distillers

Belfast’s first operational distillery since the 19th century opened in the Titanic Quarter in the historic Thompson Pump House — the same pump house that controlled the dry dock where Titanic was fitted out. The building alone is worth the visit: Victorian industrial architecture repurposed for copper pot stills.

Titanic Distillers produces a premium Irish whiskey distilled on-site, along with a premium vodka. The distillery is young, so the whiskey in the stills is still maturing, but they’ve released initial expressions and sourced whiskeys that are well received. The tours focus heavily on the building’s history as well as the distilling process — you’re learning about Belfast’s industrial heritage and its whiskey future simultaneously.

Visiting: Open for tours and tastings. Book online. Located in the Titanic Quarter, easily combined with a visit to Titanic Belfast.

Hinch Distillery

Hinch Distillery is located on the Killaney Estate near Ballynahinch in County Down, about 30 minutes south of Belfast. Opened in 2020, it’s a purpose-built distillery set in restored 18th-century farm buildings surrounded by mature grounds and gardens.

The distillery produces single malt and single pot still whiskey, as well as gin. The visitor experience is polished: a guided tour through the production areas, a tasting room with views over the estate, and a restaurant serving food designed to pair with the spirits.

Hinch’s whiskey range includes several expressions at different ages and cask finishes. The Peated Single Malt is particularly noteworthy — peated Irish whiskey is uncommon, and Hinch does it with subtlety.

Visiting: Open for tours, tastings, and dining. Book online. Allow 2 hours for the tour and a meal. The grounds are worth a walk.

Echlinville Distillery

Echlinville, near Kircubbin on the Ards Peninsula, is the first licensed distillery in Northern Ireland since 1885 (Bushmills aside). It’s also the only distillery in Ireland that grows its own grain on-site — the barley is planted, harvested, malted, and distilled all on the same estate. For whiskey purists, this grain-to-glass approach is compelling.

The distillery produces Dunville’s Irish Whiskey, reviving a historic Belfast brand that ceased production in the 1930s, along with Jawbox Gin (one of Ireland’s most popular craft gins) and a range of other spirits.

Tours cover the barley fields, the malting floor, the still house, and the bonded warehouses. It’s the most agricultural of Northern Ireland’s distillery tours — you understand the raw material in a way that’s harder to grasp in an urban setting.

Visiting: Tours by appointment. Near Strangford Lough — combine with a trip around the Ards Peninsula and Strangford Lough.

Copeland Distillery

Based in Donaghadee, a pretty harbour town on the Ards Peninsula in County Down, Copeland Distillery is a small-batch operation producing gin, rum, and whiskey. The distillery is named after the Copeland Islands visible from the harbour.

Copeland’s approach is experimental — they produce a range of spirits and aren’t afraid of unusual cask finishes and flavour profiles. The gin, made with locally foraged botanicals, is excellent. The whiskey is still young but shows real promise.

Visiting: Tours and tastings available. Donaghadee itself is a charming town with a lighthouse walk, good seafood, and one of Ireland’s oldest pubs (Grace Neill’s, established 1611).

Killowen Distillery

Killowen is the smallest distillery in Ireland, located in the foothills of the Mourne Mountains near Rostrevor. It’s a one-man operation — founder Brendan Carty does everything from malting to bottling. The distillery uses direct-fired copper pot stills, an older and more labour-intensive method that most modern distilleries have abandoned.

The whiskeys are produced in tiny batches and released in limited quantities. They sell out fast. If you can get a bottle — or better, a tour — take the opportunity.

Visiting: Tours by arrangement only, given the scale of the operation. Check their website or social media for availability. Combine with a trip to the Mourne Mountains.

Planning Your Whiskey Trail

Suggested Itinerary: 3 Days

Day 1 — Belfast and Down: Start at Titanic Distillers in Belfast. Afternoon at Hinch Distillery near Ballynahinch. Evening in Belfast.

Day 2 — Ards Peninsula and Strangford Lough: Morning at Echlinville Distillery. Lunch in one of the Ards Peninsula villages. Afternoon at Copeland Distillery in Donaghadee. Evening in Belfast or head north.

Day 3 — Causeway Coast: Drive to Bushmills. Take the premium tour and tasting. Afternoon at the Giant’s Causeway or along the Causeway Coastal Route. Head to Killowen if it’s open, or return to Belfast.

Practical Tips

Designate a driver or use a tour operator. Several companies run whiskey-themed tours with transport included.
Book tours in advance. Bushmills is busy year-round. Smaller distilleries have limited tour slots.
Pace your tastings. Six distilleries in three days means a lot of whiskey. Use the spit buckets if you need to — no one will judge you.
Buy at the distillery. Most offer exclusive bottlings you can’t get elsewhere. Bushmills’ distillery-exclusive cask finishes are particularly sought after.
Eat well between stops. Northern Ireland’s food scene is strong — see our food guide for recommendations.

Whiskey vs. Whisky

A quick note: Irish whiskey is spelled with an ‘e’. Scotch whisky is not. This distinction matters more to some people than to others, but getting it wrong in the company of distillers will earn you a gentle correction.

The Future

Northern Ireland’s whiskey industry is in the middle of a genuine renaissance. After decades with only Bushmills, the region now has a diverse and growing collection of distilleries, each with its own character and approach. The new producers aren’t copying Bushmills — they’re experimenting with grain varieties, peat, cask types, and production methods that push Irish whiskey in new directions.

For visitors, the timing is excellent. You can visit distilleries at every scale, from one of the oldest in the world to some of the newest. You can taste whiskey that’s been made the same way for centuries alongside spirits that are rewriting the rules. And you can do it all within a region small enough to drive across in two hours.

Pack a designated driver. Bring a curious palate. Northern Ireland’s whiskey story is just getting started, and it’s already very good indeed.