Blacks Brewing & Distilling

About the distillery

Blacks Brewing & Distilling is located in Kinsale on Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way, and it’s both a brewery and a distillery under the same roof. The venue was founded by Sam and Maudeline Black in 2013, and it has made a name for itself by working freely across beer, gin, rum, and whisky. For whisky lovers, it’s especially interesting because the distillery combines copper stills, experimental mash bills, and bold cask finishes in a small, distinctly personal style.

History

Blacks began as a project between the married couple Sam and Maudeline Black. The story started in 2013 in Kinsale on the Cork coast, and the roots go back to a homebrewing interest, when Maud gave Sam a home brewing kit. What began as a hobby grew into Blacks Brewing & Distilling, which they describe as Ireland’s first co-located brewery and distillery.

The company started with experimental craft beer and later moved on to gin and rum, where it gained recognition for its craftsmanship. Later, whisky arrived—and here the tone stays the same: mash bills are blended in new ways, different liquids are blended, and cask finishes are used as an active flavor tool. In December 2020, the first whiskies were distilled in Kinsale, and with that, the house also became home to the first whisky ever distilled in the town. It was a clear turning point, where Blacks shifted from a brewery with spirits to a place that also writes its own whisky history.

Ingredients and production

The whisky is distilled in the house’s two copper stills, Morrigan and Bonny. The production is characterized by flexibility rather than fixed templates, and the house works with several different grain types and mash bills. In First Flight Single Pot Still, a blend of malted barley, un-malted barley, oats, wheat, and rye is used, while other expressions are based on malt whisky or single grain.

What’s special about Blacks is especially the link between brewery and distillery. It gives access to their own beer casks and a setting where whisky can be developed across multiple drink categories. They also work with all-natural whisky without chill filtration and without added color in several releases. Overall, the style is experimental, but still grounded in concrete choices about grain, copper distillation, and a clear desire to try new combinations.

Maturation and cask types

Maturation is one of Blacks’ most distinctive traits. First Flight Single Malt has been aged for four years in port casks, while First Flight Single Pot Still is matured in oloroso sherry casks. In the core range, bourbon, virgin American oak, and maple bourbon are also used, and the company goes beyond classic whisky casks by working with IPA beer casks and rum cask finishes.

This creates a spectrum from dark fruit and sweetness to smoke, spice, and more pronounced notes of wood. There is also special attention to limited releases: the 18-year-old single malt has been finished in casks that previously held their own rum, and it was bottled in only 563 numbered bottles. At Blacks, the cask isn’t just the end of the aging process—it’s an active tool in the whisky’s very identity.

Whiskies

The whisky portfolio ranges from the early First Flight releases to a number of more playful, cask-driven expressions and classic shop sales under the Ringrone and Ace of Haze names. In the more clearly defined core, Triple Threat, Maple Mayhem, Black Smoke, and Citrus Galaxy stand out as signatures with their own profiles, while First Flight marks the historical and more collector-oriented bottles. In addition comes the Ringrone range with single malt and small batch editions, and Ace of Haze as a more mature single grain line.

Common to the range is that Blacks uses whisky to showcase the breadth of their house style: malt, grain, and single pot still—from sweeter and rounder expressions to bottles with smoky character or cask-experiment-driven finishes. It’s not a range built on uniformity, but on variation within a clearly bold and modern Irish framework.

Whisky style and flavor profile

The whisky brings together dark fruits, dried fruit, and ripe orchard fruits, with a clear sweetness of honey, vanilla, caramel, and butterscotch. There’s also a distinct line of spice with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and oak spice, which stands out especially in the more cask-influenced releases. In addition, there’s smoke on several levels, from floral heather and light smoke to deep peat, as well as aromatic details like rosewater, coffee beans, and tropical fruit—giving the range an unusually wide span.

Visit the distillery

Blacks can be visited, and the experiences are clearly built as booked tours and tastings. The selection includes, among other things: Blacks Brewing & Distilling Tour, Black Beak Gin Tour, Connoisseur’s Whiskey Experience, VIP Whiskey Experience, Rum Voyager, Maverick Whiskey, Ringrone Castle Whiskey Trilogy, Beer Flight & Tour, and The Blacks Beer Experience. The visit can also be combined with the Lagoon Bar, a fully licensed bar with views over Bandon Estuary, where you can taste the house’s beer, gin, and whiskey on site. Booking is required for tours and events.
See times and book a visit.

Philosophy and craftsmanship

Blacks is built on a stated desire to challenge traditional frameworks. They work with flavor before convention, and they use both brewery and distillery as a shared toolbox to create new combinations. The motto is clearly experimental, and they describe themselves as flavour mavericks. At the same time, sustainability is part of the operation through Origin Green, reduction of plastic, energy, water, and waste, as well as support for local groups and charity.

Sustainability

Member of Ireland’s Origin Green sustainability programme.
Replacement of single-use plastic kegs.
Reduction of energy consumption and improvement of resource efficiency rating.
Reduction of water consumption.
Reduction of recyclable landfill waste.
Social sustainability through local groups and charity.