Connemara

Connemara was created at the Cooley distillery on the Cooley peninsula in County Louth, which John Teeling set up in the late 1980s to revive independent Irish distilling. The brand's name looks west to the boglands of Connemara. Its peat smoke set it apart from the triple-distilled, unpeated style most drinkers expected from Ireland.

The whisky is made from peated malted barley and double distilled in pot stills, closer to Scottish practice than to traditional Irish methods. The result is a single malt with soft smoke over a gentle, malty and often honeyed body, lighter in peat than many Islay whiskies.

Cooley and its brands were bought by Beam in 2012, now part of Suntory Global Spirits, and Connemara is still distilled at Cooley.

The core bottling, often labelled Original or Peated Single Malt, is the one most buyers meet first, sometimes sold in gift packs with glasses. Cask Strength offers the same spirit undiluted, and Turf Mór is a younger, more heavily peated release. Older bottlings such as the 22 Year Old and occasional single casks appear in smaller numbers and are sought by collectors.