The founder of Donegal’s Ardara Distillery has said the latest heavily-peated Irish whiskey release is part of a strong regional identity that could help grow the Irish whiskey category.

The 2026 Edition of Ardara Single Malt Irish Whiskey, which is peated to 55ppm, was launched last month.

Founder James Doherty said the release gives the brand a “highly distinctive proposition, very regional focused, that looked like an outlier of an idea a decade ago and feels like a pretty strong commercial and emotional proposition now”.  

For Doherty, the whiskey is part of a wider opportunity to put regionality back at the heart of Irish whiskey, and bolster Donegal’s identity as a home of peated whiskey.

“The interesting thing about Ireland is that with the consolidation, all the regionality that you would have seen in Scotland… is not really as present in Ireland,” he said, adding that the taste profile expected from Ireland had, in recent history, been dominated by Jameson.  

Donegal, however, has a strong historical claim to a distinctive whiskey style. Doherty pointed to records showing that in 1815 five times as many illicit stills were seized in Donegal as in any other county. Tax inspectors in the 1800s also documented the county’s preference for smoky spirits, he said.

Doherty’s own connection to that history is personal. Six weeks before his grandmother died, she gave him the whiskey recipe that had belonged to his grandfather, an illicit distiller in Donegal.

“At Ardara, we’re bringing back smoke,” he said. “This whiskey is made his way: heavily peated, all grain in and triple distilled.”

The first Ardara Single Malt release in 2025 comprised 10,000 bottles: 8,000 at 46% abv and 2,000 cask strength and sold out in 10 months.

The response to the first release challenged Doherty’s expectations about who wants heavily peated Irish whiskey.

“When we set out, I thought we would appeal to Irish whiskey drinkers first, and then knowledgeable malt drinkers, then peated whiskey drinkers. 10 years ago, that would’ve been my hypothesis.

“Actually, what we have found is that… the consumer grouping is in reverse.”

The distillery has found an audience among drinkers of smoky spirits and given Doherty confidence that Donegal’s distinctive approach can have a widespread audience.

The 2026 Edition follows the same Ardara Method: heavily peated and triple distilled. All the grain is kept in throughout fermentation and into the wash still, building “a fuller, weightier spirit”. The whiskey is then triple distilled before resting in 6,000-litre Solera vats for 72 hours. It is then emptied to 1,200 litres and filled into casks.

Doherty and his wife Moira built the distillery in south-west Donegal with the intention of creating a business capable of enduring for generations.

“We’ve made decisions around the distillery that are fundamentally based in creating opportunity here in south-west Donegal that would last for hundreds of years,” he said.

He also acknowledged the environmental questions around peat and said the distillery is focused on preserving the resource for the long term, including using peat from its own bog and working with charities to support peat bog conservation. Doherty said Minch Malt, with whom they also work, is carrying out scientific work to improve smoke extraction efficiency, reducing the amount of turf needed to create the desired flavours. “It is about how do you preserve these things for the long term,” he said.

The latest release features 46% abv Ardara Single Malt, priced around EUR90, while the 2026 Edition of Ardara Single Malt Cask Strength, bottled at 60.9% abv is around EUR120. It is available in several markets including Germany, France, the UK, and the US.

With Ardara shipping to international markets, Doherty believes the once-unlikely proposition of a highly regional Irish whiskey has become a route to success.

“I’m not saying it’s the only route to success,” he said, “but hopefully we can build something that endures.”

Doherty has worked in the drinks industry for more than 20 years, holding several roles at William Grant & Sons, including managing director of developing markets & head of quality spirits international. He has also worked in senior positions at both SABMiller and Foster’s Group.

Ardara parent company Sliabh Liag Distillers crowd funded around £3.9million towards building the Ardara distillery.