Meet the Distiller: A Day in the Life of West Cork’s John O’Connell

You know those mornings when even a cold shower, a cup of black coffee, and the sweet smell of your newly made distillate’s congener retention isn’t quite enough to wake you? Might be time to stick your nose into a charred white oak barrel and take a long deep whiff of some lactones and vanillins. If that doesn't work, it might even be time to uncork a bottle and take a strong morning sniff of the rich maturing whiskey those elements will produce. If you don't happen to work in a distillery, don’t worry. Help is on its way. In an unprecedented show of industry good will, West Cork Distillers have just donated an entire cask to our membership… As for those congeners, if they don't quite conger up the same familiar smells as that cup of black coffee, rest equally assured that master distiller John O’Connell is similarly on his way to give us a nuts-and-bolts breakdown on the science behind his art, with chemistry-grounded insights and illustrative bottles of his hitherto unseen experimental still runs. So if the coffee’s still kicking by 8 pm and you’d like to stay up with us for some flavours, odours, and behind-the-scenes banter about what makes your whiskey taste like it does, join us at Wynn’s on Thursday night, October 26^th, for our first ever meeting with either West Cork Distillers or the man behind their stills.