Bernard Walsh, the Co-founder (with his wife Rosemary) of Walsh Whiskey, has been inducted into Whisky Magazine’s Hall of Fame in honour of his contribution to the whiskey industry.
The creator of Writers’ Tears and The Irishman is just the third Irish whiskey founder to be honoured in 20 years of the awards programme. He follows John Teeling, who founded the Cooley Distillery in 1987, and the late Oliver Hughes, founder of Dingle Distillery.
The Hall of Fame is reserved for people who have served at least 25 years in the industry and have made a significant contribution to the world of whiskey. Inductees are selected by Whisky Magazine’s editorial team, with recommendations from industry experts.
Bernard Walsh is regarded as one of the leading contributors to the global renaissance of Irish whiskey. The son of a County Tipperary farmer, Walsh co-founded Walsh Whiskey in 1999, then producing an innovative Irish coffee liqueur, the Hot Irishman.
Walsh went on to create The Irishman and Writers’ Tears super-premium Irish whiskeys. The two brands offer a wide range of expressions in both Pot Still (Writers’ Tears) and Single Malt (The Irishman) expressions, with a combined portfolio of 23 super-premium whiskeys available in over 50 countries worldwide.
“It is a great honour to be inducted into this august group,” Walsh said. “I accept it on behalf of everyone that I have worked alongside to get to where we are, especially my wife Rosemary. I am very grateful that the whiskey sector is such a collegiate sector and that the Irish category is in the early phases of its second golden age.”
Walsh’s accomplishments include designing, building and operating one of Ireland’s largest independent whiskey distilleries at Royal Oak between 2013 and 2019. A feature of the distillery is its production of all three forms of Irish whiskey – Pot Still, Malt and Grain – under the one roof and in the same distilling room.
His experimental approach to cask finishing has seen him travel the globe in search of casks to layer both flavour and complexity for his expressions. Walsh oversaw the creation of the first Icewine cask finish Irish whiskey in 2021.
Walsh was a founding member of the Irish Whiskey Association and served as chairman between 2014 and 2016. In 2019 he was invited to serve as a board director of Drinks Ireland, the representative organisation for alcoholic drinks manufacturers and suppliers in Ireland.
As reported, in November 2021 he completed the sale of Walsh Whiskey to Amber Beverage Group. Walsh continues in his role as Managing Director, with a focus on innovations for the Writers’ Tears and The Irishman brands while driving the whiskey division’s growth ambitions. 
