A dream long in the making

It was evocative childhood memories of action-packed summers at his grandparents’ homestead, exploring the wild Atlantic coast and an ever-growing desire to breathe new life into an almost forgotten style of Irish whiskey that called James Doherty to bring his family back to County Donegal. The result is the Ardara Distillery.

Located on the banks of the Owentocker River in the beautiful, vibrant festival town of Ardara, the striking, cathedral-esque building stands as a proud statement of what the future holds.

Dedicated to producing rich, characterful, smoky whiskeys contrary in style to those of the rest of Ireland, the Ardara Distillery is once again putting Donegal at the forefront of Ireland’s distilling reputation. (In the early 19th century, Donegal was widely known for the quality of its smoky style of spirit, much of it distilled illicitly).

The years James spent working around the world gathering experience and know-how from roles with distillers, brewers and even on tea plantations in Malawi, and Zimbabwe, where he met his wife, Moira, have allowed a dream to flourish.

You are invited to be with us, visit and taste the dream as it unfolds and experience THE SPIRIT OF DONEGAL