Water from Ballykeefe's 80m-deep limestone aquifer is used to make whiskey, gin, vodka and poitín at this rural distillery, whose farm grows its own barley. One-hour guided tours take you through the distilling process, from milling to mashing, distilling, maturing and bottling, and include tastings. It's 11km southwest of Kilkenny city off the R695.
It's an impressively eco-conscious operation: the distillery feeds byproducts to the farm's livestock, utilises surplus straw for animal bedding, recovers heat to warm the buildings, and condenses waste steam to water the crops.
