Cask, and ye shall receive

Irish whiskey is an increasingly popular product worldwide, but with popularity comes a greater risk of fraudulent products. At Teagasc Moorepark, Principal Research Officer Kieran Kilcawley is seeking to understand Irish whiskey’s unique properties – to benefit producers and customers alike.

Professor Kieran Kilcawley preparing whiskey samples for analysis in the flavour chemistry facility at the Teagasc Food Research Centre Moorepark, Fermoy, Co Cork. Picture: O’Gorman Photography.

Kieran Kilcawley’s background in dairy science ultimately led to a career in flavour profiling.

Today, Kieran heads up the flavour chemistry facility at Teagasc Moorepark. TResearch caught up with him for a taste (and smell) of all things Irish whiskey.

 What is the relevance of Irish whiskey today?

Irish whiskey has seen tremendous growth, with over 40 distilleries and export volumes exceeding €1 billion – 40% of that to the US. However, this growth brings challenges: tariffs, trade wars, and financial pressure on newer distilleries. Since alcohol must mature for three years, it ties up capital.

Traditionally, the science of flavour was held by the big players; variables around maturation and congeners – the flavour compounds produced during distillation. We aim to make that knowledge accessible, especially to small producers lacking research and development resources.

Authenticity is also a concern. As the industry expands globally, so does the risk of fraud, particularly now that Irish whiskey has Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status, which our work helps safeguard.

How has the field developed over time?

I began in dairy science, researching flavour chemistry when undertaking my PhD with University College Cork. The initial project on terroir – how grain location affects flavour – was published in 2021.

The field is now more open. Distilleries increasingly invest in flavour research, and more universities offer related programmes. Previously, Irish students had to study distilling and brewing in Scotland. Now, undergrad programmes exist here, like at TU Dublin, SETU, and Maynooth University. There’s an emerging ecosystem around whiskey research and education that simply didn’t exist 10 or 15 years ago.

What are the main challenges?

Consistency is a big challenge. Casks aren’t uniform, meaning you might struggle to replicate a successful whiskey year on year, making it harder to build a brand.

Complexity is another challenge. You might have a hundred different volatile congeners in a single sample. It’s a big job figuring out which ones are influencing sensory perception. We use gas chromatography olfactometry, where one part of the sample goes to a detector, and another to a human nose, so we can separate and identify both the compound and its aroma.

There’s also the issue of raw material; a lot of Irish whiskey is made from imported maize or grain. Maize is economically appealing for its high sugar content and alcohol yield, but importing isn’t sustainable, and weakens the case for calling whiskey “Irish”. There’s a push towards using more Irish grain, but that carries agricultural and economic risks.

What impact is this having?

We’re creating a database of congeners or compounds to track flavour profiles and maturation markers, helping producers define quality and how to achieve it. The database can also identify fraudulent products, supporting authentication, which is increasingly important as Irish whiskey grows globally. We’re also working with the state laboratory on improving validation methods, so our techniques will help enforce the PGI protection in future.

We’re also helping build capacity in the industry, such as providing technical services for distilleries who can’t afford to run their own analyses. With new funding, we’re researching volatile and non-volatile compounds from casks – the next stage of understanding flavour.

From a sustainability angle, if we can encourage more use of Irish grain and reduce import reliance, that could benefit both the economy and the environment. So, the impact stretches from chemistry to branding to agriculture.

What research have you been doing?

We’ve analysed over a hundred whiskey samples over the past 18 months, examining grain sources, distillation methods and cask types. Using gas chromatography and mass spectometry, we’re identifying aroma compounds. With TU Dublin, through the project ‘Irish Whiskey Evaluation of Biomarkers on Maturation’, we’re studying maturation of the same spirit in different cask types over a three-year period.

We also studied how pot still types and mash bills influence diversity – Irish whiskey is different to Scottish whisky, and we need to take economic advantage of such differences. Even the still shape and size has an impact, letting distilleries develop unique chemical fingerprints.

Collaborating with colleagues at Teagasc Oak Park, we’re studying barley varieties for yield, resilience, and flavour, and developing small-scale testing to enable affordable experimentation for producers.

Who benefits from this research?

For small distilleries, the benefits are immediate: access to research and tools they otherwise couldn’t afford. We help them get grants, do technical analysis, and build consistency. For the industry as a whole, it supports product quality and integrity, especially important now that Irish whiskey has PGI status.

For farmers, our work encourages the use of Irish grain, which could mean higher prices and new markets. For students, it creates new pathways into a growing industry. We also support education through supervision and placement opportunities.

Even regulators benefit, by giving them better tools for authenticating product and protecting the Irish whiskey label from fraud or misrepresentation.

How has industry responded?

Some producers are very open and collaborative, seeing the value in sharing data and improving industry standards. Others are more guarded – understandable, given the competitive nature of the business. We’ve visited lots of distilleries; while transparency isn’t always the norm, there’s growing recognition that science and data will help the industry grow responsibly.

We’re already offering technical services, for which there’s growing demand. The equipment is often there, but it’s people that are needed; trained analysts who can quantify key markers like esters, sugars, and ethanol concentrations. Capacity building is crucial.

What’s next for this research?

We’ll continue developing the compound database, while improving our research into sensory assessment techniques for volatile compounds. The new National Centre for Brewing and Distilling is being developed at Oak Park, with capacity to go from 50L to 200L scale, which will support both research and education (see article p16).

We’re also focused on supporting use of Irish grain, for both environmental and economic reasons. Reducing reliance on imported maize helps sustainability, and farmers deserve better prices for Irish barley. The PGI gives us leverage, but it’s up to research and policy to make the most of it.

Ultimately, we want to bring more science to a traditionally craft-driven space, giving Irish whiskey a distinctive, authentic identity rooted in its landscape, its grains, and its people.

Up close and personal

What’s your favourite animal?

Dogs!

If you hadn’t ended up in research, what job would you have wanted to try?

As a kid, I wanted to be a soccer player. But I’m glad to be working in science; it’s always changing and is never boring. My passion outside of that is sea-fishing.

What’s your proudest professional achievement?

Setting up the flavour chemistry facility. It probably wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t here.