ABOUT

The Irish Whiskey Academy is a place where Irish Whiskey truly comes alive.
The sensory experience for visiting bartenders, VIPs, press and in-house staff is housed in a transformed derelict building at Midleton Distillery, home of Irish Distillers, and has become a destination for all who want to learn, absorb and be entertained.
Two aspects were key to success: collaboration and attention to detail. The resulting interior balances context and appropriateness with a nod to current bar culture, vitality and the future.
The listed Old Mill Manager’s House (c 1794) was carefully stripped back and restored: we re-planned the interior, rebuilt the first floor and constructed a new stairwell as well as commandeering the existing forge and extension to provide ancillary facilities.
We translated heritage cues, on-trend bar culture and current bar philosophy across every element of the interior, working with a handpicked team of specialists.
Today visitors relax in the cosy lounge on the ground floor. The central tasting area celebrates the evolution of the Irish Distillers brand and showcases the provenance of its products. In the bar, the aesthetic becomes more contemporary, picking up cues from the Jameson portfolio. The handmade ‘letterpress’ bar front is offset against reclaimed timbers from the distillery site, hand-dipped retro tiles, bespoke wallpaper and neon signage. The first floor is conceived as three stage sets with integrated lighting and AV systems to guide the audience around the room.
We also produced the support materials including AVs, information graphics, photography and a high-end book that is presented to Academy attendees as a souvenir of their experience.
The Irish Whiskey Academy is now available to the public in a variety packages and is a successful commercial asset as well as a unique brand education experience.