Days Out NI
Distillery Kircubbin

Echlinville Distillery

A working farm distillery on the Ards Peninsula where barley becomes whiskey from field to glass.

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Check hoursShop Mon-Sat (roughly 11am-4pm); tours on…
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KircubbinDistillery
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90 minutesHow long
Over-18 for the t…Best for
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Echlinville Distillery — A working farm distillery on the Ards Peninsula where barley becomes whiskey from field to glass.

  • Getting in: By pre-booked guided tour; the shop is open separately without a tour.
  • Tours: Tour & Tipple plus gin tastings, whiskey tastings and bespoke group events; adult tickets around £23 (guide price, confirm when booking).
  • Opening: Shop Mon-Sat (roughly 11am-4pm); tours on set dates and times, booking essential; cafe and walks closed until further notice.
  • Age limits: Over-18 for the tour and tasting experiences.
  • Food: Distiller's Rest cafe closed until further notice; shop sells spirits to take home.
  • Parking: On-site parking at the farm distillery.
Plan your visit

Follow the spirit from grain to glass

Few distilleries grow and malt their own barley on site, and Echlinville is one of them. The tour takes you through the floor maltings, the stills and the maturing casks while a guide explains how the farm's grain becomes whiskey, gin and poitin. You'll see the brands made here, including Dunville's and Jawbox. A standard visit ends with a guided tasting, and there are longer whiskey and gin tasting experiences if you want to go deeper.

Guided tour Tasting included Over-18 only Field-to-glass farm distillery Booking essential Shop on site
Good to know before you go:

Echlinville runs a range of bookable experiences through the year, from the Tour & Tipple to dedicated gin and whiskey tastings and bespoke group events. Dates and times are released for booking online, and private tours can be arranged on request. Check ahead for current availability and any seasonal events.

Before you set off

What to bring

  • 🪪Photo IDTastings are 18+ — bring ID if you look under 25.
  • 🚗A plan to get homeA designated driver or lift, so everyone can enjoy the tasting.
  • 👟Comfy shoesWorking distilleries have stairs and hard floors on the tour.
  • 💷A few poundsFor the shop and a bottle to take home.
Good to know

Everything before you go

Getting in
By pre-booked guided tour; the shop is open separately without a tour
Opening
Shop Mon-Sat (roughly 11am-4pm); tours on set dates and times, booking essential; cafe and walks closed until further notice
Tours
Tour & Tipple plus gin tastings, whiskey tastings and bespoke group events; adult tickets around £23 (guide price, confirm when booking)
Age limits
Over-18 for the tour and tasting experiences
Food
Distiller's Rest cafe closed until further notice; shop sells spirits to take home
Family-friendly
No, the tour experiences are adults-only (over-18)
Parking
On-site parking at the farm distillery
Accessibility
The team aim to make visits accessible within the limits of a Grade B listed building; contact them about specific needs
How long to allow
Around 90 minutes to 2 hours for a tour and tasting; check before you go
Address
62 Gransha Road, Kircubbin, Newtownards, County Down, BT22 1AJ
Questions

Before you go

Do I need to book?
By pre-booked guided tour; the shop is open separately without a tour
What tours are there?
Tour & Tipple plus gin tastings, whiskey tastings and bespoke group events; adult tickets around £23 (guide price, confirm when booking)
What are the opening times?
Shop Mon-Sat (roughly 11am-4pm); tours on set dates and times, booking essential; cafe and walks closed until further notice
Is there an age limit?
Over-18 for the tour and tasting experiences
Is there food or a bar?
Distiller's Rest cafe closed until further notice; shop sells spirits to take home
Getting there

Echlinville Distillery is at 62 Gransha Road, Kircubbin, Newtownards, County Down, BT22 1AJ. On-site parking at the farm distillery. Tap below for directions.

Directions on Google MapsOfficial website See it on our map
Nearby

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The story

About Echlinville

Echlinville holds a place in modern Irish whiskey history: when it was granted its licence it became the first new distillery in Northern Ireland in more than 125 years, filling its first whiskey casks on 5 August 2013. The Echlinville Estate and its manor house had been bought by Shane and Lynn Braniff in 2007, and the distillery grew out of that family farm.

A founding aim was to revive Dunville's, a famous old Belfast whiskey name, and restore it to prominence. Today the site is home to several respected brands, including Dunville's Irish Whiskey, Jawbox Gin, the Echlinville Single Estate gin and Ban Poitin.

What sets it apart is its field-to-glass approach. Barley is grown and harvested on the estate and floor-malted by hand in the traditional way, so the spirit is controlled from seed to bottle on the Ards Peninsula's drumlin farmland near Strangford Lough.