Sliabh Liag Distillery — County Donegal Single Malt Whisky

Sliabh Liag Distillery is an Irish whiskey distillery located in Ardara, County Donegal, Ireland. It was founded in 2017 and is currently owned by Sliabh Liag Distillers Ltd, the family company established by James and Moira Doherty. It is recognised as the first legal distilling company to operate in the area in over 175 years, reviving a region long famed — and once notorious — for illicit distilling.

History

Sliabh Liag Distillers was founded in 2017 by James and Moira Doherty, who returned to Donegal to build a whiskey company rooted in the county's rugged Atlantic coastline and its long history of small-scale, often illicit, distilling. James brought experience from the international drinks trade, while Moira took on the role of master distiller and creative director. The company takes its name from Sliabh Liag ("sleeve league," meaning "Mountain of Flagstones"), one of Europe's highest sea cliffs, near the southern Donegal peninsula where the founders eventually plan further expansion at a site known as the Bull Field.

While their own whiskey matured, the Dohertys launched The Silkie Irish Whiskey, a blended whiskey crafted to reflect the soft, smoky style historically associated with Donegal distilling, giving the young company a commercial footing and an identity distinct from mainstream Irish whiskey. Production and visitor operations are centred on the Ardara Distillery at the Show Field in Woodhill, Ardara, with blending, bottling and administration handled from a separate site in nearby Carrick. The distillery operates under a community-minded model called "Bígí Linn" ("join us" in Irish), through which supporters can purchase casks or take an equity stake in the company, and it employs more than 30 people across its Donegal operations.

In the years following its founding, Sliabh Liag Distillers began releasing whiskey distilled, matured and bottled on-site, including a limited, heavily peated single malt laid down during the COVID-19 lockdowns — described by the company as the first whiskey distilled, matured and bottled in Donegal in the modern era — followed by the Ardara Single Malt Irish Whiskey. The distillery also produces An Dúlamán Irish Maritime Gin and offers daily public tours of the Ardara site.

Quick Facts

• Region: County Donegal, Ireland
• Founded: 2017
• Owner: Sliabh Liag Distillers Ltd (James & Moira Doherty)
• Status: Active

Core Range

The core range centres on The Silkie Irish Whiskey, a blended whiskey made in the soft, gently smoky style historically linked to Donegal distilling. As the distillery's own stocks have matured, it has added whiskey distilled on-site, including the peated Sliabh Liag Single Malt Irish Whiskey and the Ardara Single Malt Irish Whiskey. The distillery also produces An Dúlamán Irish Maritime Gin. Specific ABV figures for individual expressions were not confirmed from available sources.