“I’ve been doing this for over 20 years and I’m still fascinated by what’s possible.”
—Brian Nation, Master Distiller
It would be easy to say that Master Distiller Brian Nation has seen it all, but when it comes to working on Method and Madness “every day is a learning day, every day is a school day”. For Brian, it is the scale of the Micro-Distillery that has provided this new learning curve: “The Micro-Distillery gives us more opportunity and more time to just play around”.
“TO BE ABLE TO COMBINE THE KNOWLEDGE AND TOOLS OF THE PAST WITH THE SKILLS OF THE PRESENT TO CREATE SPIRITS FOR THE FUTURE HAS BEEN A REAL HONOUR”
—Henry Donnelly, Apprentice Distiller
It has been an incredible journey over the past year in pouring over our historic gin recipes, consulting with our Master Distiller Brian Nation and trialing different recipes in the Micro Distillery to bring METHOD AND MADNESS Gin to life.
BLENDING
“FOR METHOD AND MADNESS THE DOOR IS WIDE OPEN TO GO OUTSIDE THE BOUNDS OF TRADITION.”
—Billy Leighton, Master Blender
Master Blender Billy Leighton is a man whose role requires absolute adherence to consistency. But with Method and Madness he sees an opportunity to “go outside the wider bounds of tradition”. “Method and Madness is not stuck to any particular style. The door is wide open”.
“YOU ALWAYS NEED TO ASK ‘WHAT ELSE?”
—Dave McCabe, Apprentice Distiller
Apprentice Blender Dave McCabe believes that the next generation of whiskey makers have a dual purpose. “You have a lot of gratitude for those before you, but you also have responsibility for those after you”.
MATURATION
WHEN YOU PLAY, YOU DO THINGS THAT YOU WOULDN’T NORMALLY DO
—Kevin O’Gorman, Master of Maturation
Even before his days as Master of Maturation, Kevin was always encouraged to innovate: “Something that was passed on to me was ‘try new things’ ”, and now he believes “we need to pass the baton on to the next generation and continue the race”.
“THIS IS A TESTAMENT TO THE MASTERS”
—Finbarr Curran, Bond Apprentice
Bond Apprentice Finbarr Curran was on the frontline of innovation for Method and Madness, ident-ifying and locating new wood types for the spirit to be finished in: “We’re not bound to oak. My job is to track down new woods, from anywhere in the world. We’ve got great relationships that give us unique and rare barrels, and we’re always searching for more”. Finbarr believes that this innov-ation is essential to the long term survival of the distillery, “as soon as you’re stagnant, you’re dead in the water… not every barrel will work, but you have to try”.
“WE LEARN FROM THE WOOD, AND EACH OTHER. IT’S AN ONGOING PROCESS OF DISCOVERY”
—Eoin McLaughlin, Bond Apprentice
As Eoin says “trying something new should start with knowing the past”, and for him this starts with learning directly from Master of Maturation Kevin O’Gorman. “With Kevin’s knowledge, it’s always an educated guess… he has a lot of literature, he is a fountain of knowledge”.
WHISKEY SCIENCE
“METHOD AND MADNESS HAS GIVEN OUR EXPERIMENTAL WHISKEYS A HOME”
—Dave Quinn, Master of Whiskey Science
“I think it will surprise a lot of people… doing things we’ve never done before”, Master of Whiskey Science Dave Quinn is excited about the new possibilities being realised with Method and Madness. “Method and Madness has given our experimental whiskeys a home… we’re getting truly unique whiskeys to the whiskey enthusiast”.
“THERE IS A CONSTANT CHALLENGE, BUT THAT’S WHAT KEEPS THE HEART PUMPING”
—Dagmara Dabrowska, Apprentice of Whiskey Science
“The more you know, the more you appreciate. Your horizon gets wider and wider”. Dagmara comes from a scientific background, but her close working relationship with Master of Whiskey Science Dave Quinn has taught her something a bit more intangible, a passion for the spirit. “I had the drive for science before, but I got the passion for whiskey from Dave. He introduced me to a new world because of his passion and enthusiasm”.
Experimentation At Midleton Distillery
I’VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR OVER 20 YEARS AND I’M STILL FASCINATED BY WHAT’S POSSIBLE
Brian Nation – Master Distiller
Massive Possibilities
The Micro-Distillery in Midleton is a place for big thinking on a small scale. Innovation has always been at the heart of what we do in Midleton, but we needed a place where boundaries could be pushed an curiosities quenched. So we transformed the old Bonded Warehouse No. 2 into a new Micro-Distillery and handed over the keys to a team of Master and Apprentice whiskey makers.
NEW FROM IRISH WHISKEY HISTORY
The Midleton Distillery has been in operation since the 18th century, and is today home to some of the world’s most prestigious Irish whiskeys. With a whiskey CV like this, it would be easy to sit back on our laurels, but that’s not how things are done around here.