| Country | ireland |
| Region | County Down |
| Established | 2019 |
| Owner | Independently owned (founder Brendan Carty, with co-founders Liam Brogan and Shane McCarthy) |
| Type | Craft Irish pot still distillery |
| Number of stills | Two handmade, flame-fed copper pot stills with worm-tub condensers - "Christoir" (1,000 litres) and "Broc" (800 litres) |
| Visitor center | Yes |
| Status | Active |
| Phone | n/a |
Killowen Distillery is an Irish whisky distillery located near Rostrevor, County Down, Northern Ireland. It was founded in 2019 and is currently owned and operated independently by founder Brendan Carty and his team. Killowen is notable for reviving pre-industrial Irish distilling techniques, including flame-fed pot stills with worm-tub condensers, and has been widely described as one of Ireland's smallest licensed distilleries.
Killowen Distillery was established in 2019 by Brendan Carty, a former architect whose visit to Peter Bignell's Belgrove Distillery in Tasmania inspired a career change into distilling. Carty founded Killowen with co-founders Liam Brogan and Shane McCarthy on a smallholding at Kilfeaghan Road, near Rostrevor in the Mourne Mountains, within the Mourne Gullion Strangford UNESCO Global Geopark. The operation began on an extremely small scale, with early production carried out inside an upcycled shipping container, and it has repeatedly been reported as one of the smallest legal distilleries in Ireland. From the outset, Killowen set out to revive historical, labour-intensive Irish distilling methods that had largely disappeared from commercial production, including flame-fired stills, worm-tub condensation, and traditional poitín-making, in deliberate contrast to the more industrial approach used by many larger Irish whiskey producers. Since founding, the distillery has expanded its equipment and built a strong reputation within the Irish whiskey community for experimental, small-batch, cask-strength releases, including its "Bonded Experimental Series" bottlings, alongside its poitín brand, Pangur.
Killowen's output spans single pot still and single malt Irish whiskey, poitín, gin, rum and liqueurs, mostly released as small, cask-strength batches rather than a fixed standardised range. Notable bottlings include the Bonded Experimental Series (cask-strength, non-chill-filtered whiskey releases with full disclosure of the individual cask's history), the Signature Rum & Raisin single malt (matured for five years in bourbon casks before finishing in dark rum casks and PX sherry butts), and Barántúil. The distillery's poitín is sold under its Pangur Irish Poitín brand, reflecting Killowen's broader focus on reviving historic Irish spirit styles alongside its whiskey.
Killowen distillery is located at 29 Kilfeaghan Road, Killowen, Rostrevor, County Down, BT34 3AW, Northern Ireland.
Killowen distillery was founded in 2019.
Killowen distillery is owned by Independently owned (founder Brendan Carty, with co-founders Liam Brogan and Shane McCarthy).
Killowen distillery is from County Down, ireland.
Yes, Killowen distillery welcomes visitors.
You can buy Killowen whisky at Glenbotal.co.uk. We currently stock a selection with free UK delivery on orders over £99.
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About Glenbotal
The idea of Glenbotal came to us naturaly: as whisky lovers, we were always on the lookout for new experiences in the whisky world. That’s why we created Glenbotal and became our very own first customers. We buy unique and hard to find spirits from auctions, ballots, and private collections. Then, we share them with a small circle of friends and people who can appreciate a good dram.