These days artisan is the buzz word for new and developing food and drinks industries. But in the case of Artisan Whiskey, they are re-creating the unique flavours of the Whiskey bonder – when back in the day, up to the 19th century nearly every small town/village had its own whiskey bonder – a pub or shop which warehoused raw whiskey as it matured. As each bonder imbued it’s whiskey with its own local flavour, maturing the raw spirit in differing wooden casks – some old sherry casks, some even tea barrels – each whiskey became a distillation, the essence of that locale. Thankfully we can celebrate again the flavour of small town Ireland in many of the new bonders and whiskeys being matured there.