• Flexible

    Learn online in your own time, at your own pace with lifetime access to the course.

  • Accessible

    In-depth, yet easy-to-follow material. Ideal for beginners, or those keen to learn a bit more.

  • Interactive

    Enjoy quizzes, video and multimedia lessons across eight modules. Plus, a final assessment.


Course Overview

    1. Overview

    2. Origins: the history of distillation & medieval Ireland

    3. Irish whiskey before its industry (1556 – 1760)

    4. Poitín vs. Parliament (1760 – 1823)

    5. The emerging taste of “old Irish pot still”

    6. Aeneas Coffey (1780-1852) and his legacy

    7. A new class altogether (1823-1863)

    8. Precarious heights (1860-1886)

    9. Ross v. Roe, or a tale of two titans (1878-1930)

    10. After the fall (1930-2021)

    1. Overview

    2. What is Irish whiskey?

    3. The Irish Whiskey Act 1980

    4. The Irish Whiskey Technical File 2014

    5. Activity: the five categories of Irish whiskey

    6. Who is who in Irish whiskey?

    7. Global threats to the Irish whiskey industry

    8. Current and future whiskey distilleries of Ireland

    9. The future prospects for Irish Whiskey

    10. Quiz

    1. Overview

    2. Activity: The ingredients for Irish whiskey

    3. Raise a glass to the farmers

    4. Grains

    5. Malting

    6. Milling

    7. Activity: Milled grains

    8. Activity: Two & four roller mills

    9. Mashing

    10. Fermentation

    11. Quiz

    1. Overview

    2. The rise, fall and rise again of pot still whiskey

    3. Milling & mashing

    4. Fermentation

    5. Distillation

    6. Activity: Different distillate styles

    7. Malt spirit production in Ireland

    8. Grain spirit production in Ireland

    9. Activity: How grain distillation works

    10. Quiz

    1. Overview

    2. Maturation in Ireland

    3. Activity: Regulations in the Irish Whiskey Technical File

    4. Regulations for maturation in Ireland

    5. Non-oak maturation

    6. Warehousing

      FREE PREVIEW

    7. Quiz

    1. Overview

    2. What is blended Irish whiskey?

    3. Combinations of blended Irish whiskey

    4. Quiz

About this course

  • £120.00
  • 8 modules, plus final assessment
  • EWA digital badge & certificate
  • Green lapel pin & printed certificate (optional)

The Certificate in Irish Whiskey culminates in a sensory analysis – that is, a whiskey tasting.

Building on all you’ve learned during the course, Matt Healy will guide you through the four major categories of whiskey in Ireland. It’s up to you whether you taste along and, if so, where you get your whiskeys. 

We’ve teamed up with Irish Malts (UK £34.95 / EU €39.95) and esips (USA $55) to offer a tailored whiskey tasting box that’s unique to the course. 

Alternatively, if you’d sooner source your own samples, here’s what we’ll be tasting...


5 star rating

John Kenna

Great foundation of history, before a deep dive into the process and legislation around bottling and labelling. Really enjoyed it. Allows me continue my whiskey journey with a degree of context and an appropriation for the chemistry and artist...

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Great foundation of history, before a deep dive into the process and legislation around bottling and labelling. Really enjoyed it. Allows me continue my whiskey journey with a degree of context and an appropriation for the chemistry and artistry which makes Irish whiskey such a wonderful find.

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5 star rating

Thomas Thomas

The program was extremely educational. Like their other online courses it was hands on which did a great job at keeping you engaged and helped tremendously with information retention. The modules were easy to navigate and the videos and audio ...

Read More

The program was extremely educational. Like their other online courses it was hands on which did a great job at keeping you engaged and helped tremendously with information retention. The modules were easy to navigate and the videos and audio interview really helped put all the information in context. I thoroughly enjoyed this course and am so happy to have learned so much of the history of not only whiskey but of Ireland as well. I can’t wait to take my next course with Edinburgh Whiskey Academy.

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5 star rating

Jason Prickett

Professionally presented, Good information, Fun too do, Fair price....

Professionally presented, Good information, Fun too do, Fair price....

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5 star rating

John Paschall

The course content is very comprehensive, informative and in-depth.

The course content is very comprehensive, informative and in-depth.

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5 star rating

Recomend! I take some more int...

hrvoje lozica

Recomend! I take some more interesting courses. I really enjoyed it! So much new stuff.

Recomend! I take some more interesting courses. I really enjoyed it! So much new stuff.

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5 star rating

I have participated in 8 diffe...

Michael Foti

I have participated in 8 different whisky education programs. The EWA programs are well thought out and provide valuable information for the novice and expert. I took the online course as an introduction to expand my whisky knowledge! Great p...

Read More

I have participated in 8 different whisky education programs. The EWA programs are well thought out and provide valuable information for the novice and expert. I took the online course as an introduction to expand my whisky knowledge! Great program!!

Read Less

Get started with the Certificate in Irish Whiskey today

Imagine yourself enjoying a dram, understanding exactly what went into your glass and why you love it so much.

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