The Liberator & The Lakes – Private Warehouse Tasting

Wayward Irish Spirits, maker of The Liberator and Lakeview Single Estate Irish Whiskeys, is based on the O’Connell’s Historic Lakeview Estate in Killarney, County Kerry, the family’s home for more than 900 years.

Here you will find a rich and engaging family history comprised of poets and merchants, smugglers and soldiers and the man often hailed as Ireland’s favourite son, Daniel O’Connell, known as The Liberator.

The Estate encompasses mature woodland and farmland in a stunning setting on the shores of Lough Leane. Here Gulf Stream weather conditions, mountains and lake collide to give the Estate a special microclimate with famously changeable and damp weather contributing to uniquely rapid cask maturation.

Spirit from the O’Connells own barley and from other Irish distilleries is matured, finished, blended and bottled here in the 300 year old stone Bonded Storehouse ‘The House of Contentment’. Wayward Irish Spirits founder, Sir Maurice O’Connell and his family have forged their own path to create individual premium Irish whiskeys, celebrating their rich history and the land they love.

Arrive at Lakeview House by the long avenue of ancient beech trees and be wowed by the setting! Nestled on the shores of Lough Leane (the myth-laden Lake of Learning) with the Estate’s iconic ‘Gates to Heaven’ framed by the inspiring mountains and valleys of the Killarney National Park, this was aptly described as a “Foretaste of Heaven” by a 19th century poet.

On arrival, one of the Founders, Sir Maurice and Lady O’Connell, will be your host, taking you through the family’s rich and sometimes colourful history in the Lakeview House portrait gallery.

You will then be guided on a bespoke whiskey tour, walking down to the picturesque bonded Storehouse where Wayward Irish Spirit’s whiskey is matured, finished, blended and bottled. Maurice will share the process of making and maturing whiskey, while introducing you to the unique climate enjoyed in Killarney, how it affects the whiskey’s maturation and inviting you to sample maturing whiskey directly from the cask while being regaled with stories of ancestral deeds. After the tour, you will return to the House to savour some of our current and as yet unreleased whiskeys in the atmospheric Library, followed by a catered light lunch, where Maurice will answer all your questions about his whiskey and the fascinating business of managing a whiskey business.