Baoilleach Distillery — County Donegal Single Malt Whisky

Baoilleach Distillery is an Irish whiskey distillery located near Carrigart, County Donegal, Ireland. It was founded in 2019 and is currently owned and run by founder and head distiller Michael R O'Boyle. Housed in a small cottage overlooking Mulroy Bay on the Wild Atlantic Way, it is one of the smallest whiskey distilleries in Ireland, producing only around 50-70 casks a year using direct-fired copper pot stills.

History

Baoilleach Distillery was established in 2019 by Michael R O'Boyle in an old cottage on a hillside above Mulroy Bay, just outside the village of Carrigart on Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way. The distillery's name is the Irish-language form of the founder's own surname, O'Boyle (Ó Baoill), a clan name long associated with this part of north Donegal. In its early years the operation produced gin and poitín while laying down whiskey to mature, with whiskey production reported to be getting under way in the early 2020s. Baoilleach is run as a solo, hands-on craft operation: O'Boyle mills, mashes, ferments, and distils in small batches over direct flame, working with a range of mash bills that include malted and green barley, oats, rye, maize, and peated grain, some of it grown on the distillery's own land. This includes an annual harvest expression, "Grán na hÁite" ("Grains of the Place"), made from grain grown on site. The scale of production, described by the distillery itself as the smallest in Donegal and among the smallest on the island of Ireland, has made hand-crafted, small-batch character central to its identity.

Quick Facts

• Region: County Donegal, Ireland
• Founded: 2019
• Owner: Michael R O'Boyle (independent, founder-owned)
• Status: Active
• Stills: Small copper pot stills, direct-fired

Core Range

Baoilleach's releases have been sold in very limited quantities directly from the distillery. Past bottlings include An Chéad – Irish Whiskey (47.9% ABV) and a cask strength version of the same release (58.7% ABV), Donegal Mountain Dew, a five-cask vatting bottled in small batches (around 52% ABV), and the annual single-farm harvest whiskey Grán na hÁite. The distillery has also produced Mulroy Bay Irish Gin (42% ABV) and a Mulroy Bay white Irish rum. Because output is so small, releases sell out quickly and availability varies year to year.