A tradition. Time-honoured and timeless.

A distilling heritage.
Revered, respected
and now revived.

From bringing in the barley to maturing
our whiskey in sessile oak casks, the crafting of our whiskey honours
the ancient Sean gael method.

From barley to barrel to bottle to you

the ancient
sean gael method

Pioneering the reintroduction of the sean gael way of distilling means we can deliver a whiskey that truly stands apart from the rest; a whiskey steeped not only in Ireland’s natural bounty but also in the traditions of an ancient art. Made by hand from beginning to end and overseen by expert eyes, the sum of the parts at our whiskey’s heart delves into the past to create a whole that is both classic and contemporary.

Burren Distillers’ co-founder and proud descendant of the 17th century clan that once ruled The Burren - talks about his passion for reviving the ancient craft of sean gael distilling.

Noel Ó Lochlainn

A tribute to ireland’s
ancient distilling heritage

the sean
gael method

The lengths we go and the steps
we take to craft our unique tasting whiskey.

A tribute to ireland’s
ancient distilling heritage

the sean
gael method

The lengths we go and the steps
we take to craft our unique tasting whiskey.

Harvesting

The barley we use in crafting The Burren Single Malt is locally grown. Nurtured by unusually temperate weather, the crop is gently misted by saline winds from the Atlantic Ocean before being harvested using traditional Irish thrashing equipment and processes.

Floor malting

Unique among micro-distilleries in Ireland, we’ve reintroduced floor malting, a natural process that helps us get the very best from our barley. More moisture remains in the grain and there is slower germination. By allowing nature to take its course, the end result is greater sweetness and less acidity.

Mashing

Once the barley’s been malted it’s mixed with water drawn from our own well - this is known as mashing - and, unlike many other distilleries that use stainless steel tanks, we work our magic in custom-made, Irish oak vats. It’s the traditional way of doing things and means the delicate mash can cool in its own time for a sweeter and more satisfying end result.

Fermentation

The pursuit of perfection can’t be hurried so, in the spirit of sean gael, we allow our whiskey to naturally ferment at its own pace in fermenters specially made for us in France from our own Irish oak. The monitoring process is hands-on with its hourly demands varying with each individual fermentation. But meeting the demands is worth it. The result is a flavour profile unique to a handcrafted spirit.

Triple Distillation

Going above and beyond the minimum requirements for the use of copper in distilling whiskey, our stills are made from copper inside and out. They’re direct fired and, in contrast to most modern whiskey stills, they’re monitored in person by the watchful eyes of our distillers and adjusted manually to ensure precisely the right results - a triple distilled, softer, fuller flavoured, more concentrated whiskey.

Sustainability

For a better whiskey,
a better world

As ancient as it is rewarding

The sean gael method of distilling Irish whiskey is as ancient as it is rewarding; a craft almost untouched by the march of time and untainted by environmentally unfriendly ways of working.

Grown Naturally

Take the barley we use. It’s grown naturally in fields where crops are rotated and where neighbouring wild flower meadows encourage biodiversity. And from field to distillery is a journey of just 12 kilometres, helping to minimise our carbon footprint.
Meanwhile, the rest comes from our own well.

Dair Ghaelach

For mashing and fermentation to distilling and chilling, we don’t use steel, we use wood – a resource we help renew by planting 100 oak trees every year.

And even our waste doesn’t go to waste, with the spent mash sent to local farmers to use as animal feed.