Kildare coopers give new life to fallen ancient tree
Head cooper Ian Leonard works on one of the Irish oak casks to prepare for the head fitting at Newbridge's Kentucky Bourbon Barrel. Picture: Brian Connolly/Bang Bang Visual.
A COOPERAGE in Newbridge has transformed a 1,000-year-old Irish oak tree into three exceptionally rare whiskey casks in a landmark moment for Ireland’s distilling and cooperage heritage.
The specialist coopers at Kentucky Bourbon Barrel in Ladytown have created three 225-litre casks from the giant tree, which was brought down by Storm Elin in December 2023 on Preston’s Estate on Swainstown Farm, Co Meath, between Kilmessan and Dunsany.
The Preston family are descendants of the renowned Preston's of Drogheda, Co Louth - operators of a prominent whiskey bonding business for almost a century from 1886.
Its new lease of life, a collaboration between Drogheda-based Boann Distillery, Kentucky Bourbon Barrel and Swainstown Farm, marks the first time in over a century that complete Irish oak whiskey casks have been coopered by Irish hands on Irish soil.
A selected section of the tree was transported to the Vosges region of France, where specialist mills split the log and converted it into the shaped staves - the shaped lengths of wood that form the sides of a barrel - together with the heads required to make a cask.
The oak then underwent approximately 24 months of natural outdoor seasoning before returning to Ireland.
At the Newbridge cooperage, the seasoned staves and heads were shaped and assembled into three complete Irish Oak casks for Boann Distillery.
They will now be filled with matured whiskey based on its secret Preston’s Vintage Mashbill XI recipe - a historic late-19th-century recipe uncovered through Boann’s Vintage Mashbill programme, which brought old whiskey recipes back to life.
The whiskey will be bottled and launched next year.
Irish oak casks are exceptionally scarce because relatively little native oak is suitable for barrel production.
Most casks used by the Irish whiskey industry are made from American oak and were previously used to mature bourbon.
“This oak stood at Preston’s Estate for around 1,000 years, and its story could easily have ended when it fell during Storm Elin,” said Peter Cooney of Boann.
“Instead, it has returned to Ireland to begin a new life as three extraordinarily rare whiskey casks.
This means it would have taken seed about 40 years before the Battle of Hastings, and the tree would have been already standing for three and a half centuries when the Battle of the Boyne was fought nearby.
“Using the wood to mature Preston’s Irish Whiskey creates a direct connection between the Preston family’s land, its historic whiskey-bonding legacy and Boann’s work to revive old Irish whiskey recipes.”
Mark Quick, Managing Director of Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ireland, said the project presented a rare opportunity for its coopers.
“Our team is constantly exploring new flavour possibilities,” he said. “Working with native Irish oak of this age and provenance is an enormous privilege.
“Every stave must be carefully examined and shaped before the cask is raised, secured with hoops and prepared to hold spirit.
“How we season, shape, toast and assemble the oak will influence the way the whiskey interacts with the wood throughout maturation."
