Fallen Irish trees turned into whiskey barrels

A 1,000-year-old Irish oak tree has been transformed into three exceptionally rare whiskey casks.

Specialist coopers at Kentucky Bourbon Barrel in Kildare have created three 225-litre casks from the giant tree, which was brought down by Storm Elin in December 2023.

The tree was found on land owned by the Preston family.

Descendants of the renowned Preston's of Drogheda, Co Louth - who were operators of a prominent whiskey bonding business for almost a century from 1886.

The collaboration between Drogheda-based Boann Distillery, Kentucky Bourbon Barrel and Swainstown Farm, marks the first time in over a century that complete Irish oak whiskey casks have been coopered by Irish hands on Irish soil.

A selected section of the tree was transported to the Vosges region of France, where specialist mills split the log and converted it into the shaped staves - the shaped lengths of wood that form the sides of a barrel - together with the heads required to make a cask.

The oak then underwent approximately 24 months of natural outdoor seasoning before returning to Ireland.

At the Newbridge cooperage, the seasoned staves and heads were shaped and assembled into three complete Irish Oak casks for Boann Distillery.
They will now be filled with matured whiskey based on its secret Preston’s Vintage Mashbill XI recipe - a historic late-19th-century recipe uncovered through Boann’s Vintage Mashbill programme, which brought old whiskey recipes back to life.
The whiskey will be bottled and launched next year.

“This oak stood at Preston’s Estate for around 1,000 years, and its story could easily have ended when it fell during Storm Elin,” said Peter Cooney of Boann.
“Instead, it has returned to Ireland to begin a new life as three extraordinarily rare whiskey casks.
“Using the wood to mature Preston’s Irish Whiskey creates a direct connection between the Preston family’s land, its historic whiskey-bonding legacy and Boann’s work to revive old Irish whiskey recipes.”

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Fallen Irish trees turned into whiskey barrels

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A 1,000-year-old Irish oak tree has been transformed into three exceptionally rare whiskey casks.

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