Westmeath whiskey blogger on an ongoing tasting journey

Long-time Athlone resident Dave McKay, who runs the popular blog 'Westmeath Whiskey World', has described the last ten years since starting his regular online reviews as "a fascinating journey" in tasting flavours from across the globe.

Originally from Scotland, Dave has been living in Fardrum, Athlone, for 20 years. He posts on X (formerly Twitter) under the handle 'Whiskey Nut' and the overall number of views for his regularly-updated 'Westmeath Whiskey World' blog has now passed the half-a-million mark.

Dave has no interest in trying to make money from his online reviews, instead seeing the project as a lifetime dedication to a hobby he thoroughly enjoys.

"None of this was ever about personal gain or anything like that," he told the Westmeath Independent.

"What I enjoy is discovering new tastes, and in terms of whiskey, both in Ireland and around the world, there's never-ending opportunities to taste new brands and different kinds of whiskey.

"It's a fascinating subject and I love getting to know the history and background of different whiskeys,” Dave added.

Included among his most recent work are reviews of some of the many pubs, and their whiskey offerings, in local areas such as Athlone, Ballymahon and Moate.

During a trip to Moate's hostelries, Dave enjoyed visiting Peadar's, where he sampled The Galtee Mountain Boy Irish whiskey and a single-cask release from Sligo's Athrú. His Moate visit includes a stop at The Gap House, where he tasted the 7 Churches brand from Shannonbridge in Offaly.

Dave also blogged about enjoyable visits to other Moate premises like Vincent Coghlan's, P Egan's, Bo Allen's, Jack's, and Don's Bar. Previously, he also embarked on a tour of Athlone's many pubs and hotels, to find out what whiskeys they had in-store.

He regularly attends international whiskey festivals, including recently in Norway, where for the first time ever he sampled "a delicious African whiskey" that had been smoked using cow pats. Many French whiskeys have also recently caught his attention.

"It's like anything, really. Food, beers, whiskey. It all depends on the individual's palate. What tastes great to me might not work for somebody else," he said.

"But there's so much diversity out there now that there's always going to be something for everyone. You never know what you're going to find with new whiskeys, and that's something that's always caught my imagination," he said.

Dave, who sometimes features reviews of beers and other beverages on the blog, finished by saying that he hopes his writing is humorous, informative and enjoyable for readers.

"That's the hope, and I'll continue doing it until people are no longer interested, but for now it's going along well and I enjoy it very much," he said. "I'd like to thank anyone who has taken the time to read it and look forward to many more blog posts in the future."