Written by Irish whiskey experts Fionnán O’Connor and Matt Healy, you’ll work through a series of video lessons and interactive exercises, discovering more about the history and business of Irish whiskey before covering the production process, modern innovations and an all-important sensory analysis. 

The flexible, self-paced format allows you to learn in your own time and, with quizzes at the end of each module, you can measure all the knowledge you’re distilling as you go.


Certification

As well as a certificate of completion, you’ll come away understanding how differing production methods across the category produce different flavours in the finished product.

  • Self-paced online course

  • 7 modules, plus a final assessment & sensory analysis

  • EWA digital badge & completion certificate

  • Optional EWA green lapel pin & printed certificate

What's covered?

  1. 1

    • Overview

    • Origins: the history of distillation & medieval Ireland

    • Irish whiskey before its industry (1556 – 1760)

    • Poitín vs. Parliament (1760 – 1823)

    • The emerging taste of “old Irish pot still”

    • Aeneas Coffey (1780-1852) and his legacy

    • A new class altogether (1823-1863)

    • Precarious heights (1860-1886)

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

    • After the fall (1930-2012)
  2. 2

    • Overview

    • What is Irish whiskey?

    • The Irish Whiskey Act 1980

    • The Irish Whiskey Technical File 2014

    • Activity: the five categories of Irish whiskey

    • Who is who in Irish whiskey?

    • Global threats to the Irish whiskey industry

    • Current and future whiskey distilleries of Ireland

    • The future prospects for Irish Whiskey

    • Quiz
  3. 3

    • Overview

    • Activity: The ingredients for Irish whiskey

    • Raise a glass to the farmers

    • Grains

    • Malting

    • Milling

    • Activity: Milled grains

    • Activity: Two & four roller mills

    • Mashing

    • Fermentation

    • Quiz
  4. 4
  5. 5

    • Overview

    • Maturation in Ireland

    • Activity: Regulations in the Irish Whiskey Technical File

    • Regulations for maturation in Ireland

    • Non-oak maturation

    • Warehousing

      FREE PREVIEW

    • Quiz
  6. 6

    • Overview

    • What is blended Irish whiskey?

    • Activity: Combinations of blended Irish whiskey

    • Quiz
  7. 7

    • Overview

    • How whiskey is bottled

    • Question: if it's not whiskey, what is it?

    • Caramel colouring E150a

    • Chill filtration

    • Labelling guidelines

    • Marketing terms

    • Maturation & age

    • Water

    • Misleading terms

    • Quiz
  8. 8

    • Assessment: Certificate in Irish Whiskey
  9. 9

    • Introduction

    • Activity: Recap of categories and their processes

    • Single malt whiskey

    • Single grain whiskey

    • Blended whiskey

    • Pot still whiskey

    • Whiskey tasting resources
  10. 10

    • Certificate in Irish Whiskey PDF

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 Three Drams to offer a tailored whiskey tasting box that’s unique to the course. Priced £34.95 (€39.95), you can buy it using the button link below. Alternatively, if you’d sooner source your own samples, here’s what we’ll be tasting...
Buy Samples