About
Located in Cappoquin in the scenic Blackwater Valley, County Waterford. Originally focused on gin (Blackwater No. 5), expanded into whiskey production. Produces single malt Irish whiskey. Small-batch craft approach in a region with deep agricultural heritage.
Production Details
The Blackwater Tale
The Blackwater River has carved its way through County Waterford for millennia, but in 2015, it found new purpose in the hands of distillers who understood that great whiskey begins with great water. In the scenic village of Cappoquin, where the Blackwater Valley spreads wide between rolling hills, a new chapter in Irish whiskey began to unfold.
Blackwater Distillery emerged from this landscape not as conquerors, but as custodians. The founders looked to the spring water rising from the valley floor—the same water that had sustained generations of farmers and fed the river that gave both distillery and region their name. Here, in Munster's agricultural heartland, they would revive the ancient art of uisce beatha.
The distillery's journey started with gin, their Blackwater No. 5 establishing the house character before whiskey ever touched copper. This progression speaks to the methodical nature of craft distilling—master your equipment, understand your water, then commit to the patient art of whiskey. When they turned their attention to single malt Irish whiskey, they brought the same small-batch philosophy that had defined their gin work.
The stills in Cappoquin operate within sight of fields that have fed this valley for centuries. Each run draws from those valley springs, water that has percolated through limestone and emerged with the mineral character that will define every drop. The choice to focus on single malt connects Blackwater to Ireland's oldest traditions while embracing the innovation that marks the modern Irish whiskey renaissance.
In the stillhouse, copper gleams against stone walls, and the rhythm of distillation echoes the unhurried pace of rural Waterford. This is craft distilling stripped of pretense—small batches, careful attention, and the understanding that great whiskey cannot be rushed. The spirit that emerges carries not just the flavor of malted barley and spring water, but the essence of a place where the Blackwater River meets the ambition of modern Irish distillers.
As casks quietly age in Cappoquin warehouses, they hold more than maturing whiskey—they contain the promise of a valley reclaiming its place in Ireland's whiskey story.