Teeling Whiskey Distillery

Teeling is where to go if you want to see Dublin whiskey actually being made rather than told as heritage. When it opened on Newmarket in the Liberties in 2015, it was the first new distillery to operate in the city for more than a century, at a time when the old Dublin whiskey names had long vanished and the industry had shrunk to a handful of distilleries elsewhere in Ireland. The Teeling family's connection to the trade goes back to 1782, when Walter Teeling set up a distillery on nearby Marrowbone Lane; brothers Jack and Stephen Teeling revived the name and built this distillery a few streets away, and its phoenix emblem stands for the rebirth of distilling in a neighbourhood that once supported dozens of distilleries and breweries. The guided tour, about an hour long, follows the process from grain to glass: the mash tun and fermentation vessels, where you can smell the sweet, beery wash, and then the still house with its gleaming copper pot stills, each named after a daughter of the family. Guides explain how Irish whiskey differs from Scotch and bourbon, the history of the Liberties distilleries, and why Teeling experiments with unusual cask finishes. The tour ends with a tasting, and several tiers are available: the standard Teeling Tour, the Trinity Tour with a broader tasting, the Distillery Select Tour with rarer whiskeys, and a version with an Irish coffee. Groups are capped, and tours sell out on weekends and in summer, so book a time. There is a café on the ground floor and a bar for a dram before or after, and the shop sells distillery-exclusive bottles, some of which can only be bought here. If you have never tasted Irish whiskey properly, this is a relaxed, unpretentious place to start, and the guides are happy to answer beginner questions.

Picking your tasting: the entry-level tour is ideal for newcomers, with a small flight that usually includes the Small Batch blend, finished in rum casks and the whiskey that made the brand's name, along with other expressions from the core range. Enthusiasts should go up a tier for more unusual whiskeys and a deeper conversation with the guide. Non-drinkers and designated drivers can take the tour and swap the whiskey, and under-18s are welcome on some tours with an adult but cannot taste, so check the conditions when you book. Opening runs from late morning to early evening, a little later on Saturdays, and the last tours start well before closing.

How it compares: Dublin now has a cluster of whiskey visits, and they suit different moods. Jameson Bow St. on the north side is the polished, big-brand heritage experience in the brand's old distillery, but whiskey is no longer made there. Teeling is a genuinely working, independent distillery with a younger, craft feel. The Liberties also has the Pearse Lyons Distillery in a restored church on James's Street and the Roe and Co distillery near the Guinness Storehouse, so a dedicated whiskey lover can make a full day of it. For most visitors, one heritage visit and one working distillery is the perfect pairing: Jameson for the story, Teeling for the process.

Around it: Newmarket is a ten-minute walk from St Patrick's Cathedral and about fifteen from the Guinness Storehouse, so Teeling slots naturally into a Liberties day. Combine the Storehouse in the morning with Teeling in the afternoon, then walk down Meath Street and Francis Street, with their antique shops, old pubs and markets, for an early dinner. The Liberties is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Dublin, rapidly changing with new hotels and cafés, and the distillery is one of its best-loved new landmarks. Walking between the old distilling streets, with the guide's stories fresh in your mind, you start to see the traces of that industrial past in the warehouses and street names around you.