Spirits

Two Stacks

Three friends reviving the old Irish craft of whiskey blending and bonding.

Founded: 2020
Founded by: Shane McCarthy, Liam Brogan, Donal McLynn

Making it since

2020

Their story

Two Stacks was started by three friends who had lived and worked abroad: Shane McCarthy, a former financial analyst, his childhood friend Liam Brogan, an accountant, and Donal McLynn, who grew up working in his family's pub in County Sligo. None came from distilling. They first ran a drinks distribution company before launching their own whiskey in 2020.

The name comes from the twin chimney stacks of an old distillery in Dundalk, once tall enough to guide sailors on the Irish Sea. The company is based near the Mourne Mountains in County Down, and it also runs the Killowen distillery, built by head distiller Brendan Carty from an old farmhouse.

How it's made

Two Stacks works as a blender and bottler, the way Irish whiskey bonders once did, buying whiskey and blending it rather than distilling everything themselves. The core First Cut blends two grain whiskeys with pot still, double malt and a touch of peated malt, using whiskey from the Great Northern Distillery in Dundalk. They also sell a cask-strength Blender's Cut and their Dram in a Can.