{"id":586350,"date":"2026-08-07T20:52:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/586350\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:52:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:52:14","slug":"rare-whiskey-casks-crafted-from-storm-felled-irish-oak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/586350\/","title":{"rendered":"Rare whiskey casks crafted from storm-felled Irish oak"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 1,000-year-old Irish oak tree, which was brought down by a storm, has been crafted into three rare whiskey casks.<\/p>\n

The ancient tree fell during Storm Elin in December 2023 on the Preston estate in Kilmessan, Co Meath.<\/p>\n

Now, thanks to a collaboration between Drogheda-based Boann Distillery and Kentucky Bourbon Barrel in Co Kildare, it has been given a new lease of life.<\/p>\n

\"Three
\nThe oak tree was toppled during Storm Elin in December 2023<\/p>\n

“Storm Elin knocked over this very large tree – it was about 10 metres in girth,” Boann’s Peter Cooney explained.<\/p>\n

“We took the first piece from the base to the first branch, and we sent it to the Vosges region of France for log splitting and stave preparing.<\/p>\n

“The oak then underwent around two years of natural outdoor seasoning before returning to Ireland.<\/p>\n

“It is now being turned into three casks – the first time in over a century that complete Irish oak whiskey casks have been coopered by Irish hands on Irish soil.”<\/p>\n

\"Cooper
\nCooper Ian Leonard works on one of the Irish oak casks<\/p>\n

Irish oak casks are exceptionally scarce.<\/p>\n

Most casks used by the Irish whiskey industry are made from American oak and were previously used to mature bourbon.<\/p>\n

Thousands of these barrels are piled high at the Kentucky Bourbon Barrel cooperage in Newbridge.<\/p>\n

For head cooper Ian Leonard, working with native Irish oak of this age and provenance represented a unique opportunity.<\/p>\n

“To be the first Irish person in over a century to rise an Irish oak cask is something else,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a big privilege as not many people get to do projects like this.”<\/p>\n

Over several hours, Mr Leonard shaped the staves and secured them with hoops using tools that are over 100 years old.<\/p>\n

“I love everything old-school,” he joked.<\/p>\n

\"Three
\nPeter Cooney (centre) from Boann Distillery is flanked by Mark Quick and Ian Leonard from Kentucky Bourbon Barrel<\/p>\n

Indeed, everything about this project has its roots in the past.<\/p>\n

The new casks will be filled with matured whiskey based on a late-19th-century recipe.<\/p>\n

“The Preston family are descendants of the renowned Prestons of Drogheda, Co Louth,” explained Peter Cooney.<\/p>\n

“They were operators of a prominent whiskey bonding business for almost a century from 1886.<\/p>\n

“Using the Irish oak to mature Preston’s Irish Whiskey creates a direct connection between the Preston family\u2019s land, its historic whiskey-bonding legacy and our work to revive old Irish whiskey recipes.”<\/p>\n

It is hoped the whiskey will be bottled and launched next year.<\/p>\n

“Irish people love telling stories. So, hopefully this story will go around the world,” Mr Cooney said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 1,000-year-old Irish oak tree, which was brought down by a storm, has been crafted into three rare…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":586351,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,61,60],"class_list":["post-586350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}