In Sligo, Ireland, a short stretch of river called the Garavogue flows from Lough Gill to the sea. It’s not long or dramatic, but it’s central—threading past the town’s stone bridges and through its history. The river gave the town its rhythm. Now it gives its name to something new: a whiskey that feels both rooted and restless.

Garavogue 20-Year-Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey is the first release from Hawk’s Rock Distillery, the newly renamed site formerly known as Lough Gill. It’s also the first Irish whiskey launched under the ownership of the Sazerac Company, which acquired the distillery in 2021 and quietly let time, wood, and weather do their work.

And while there’s plenty of buzz around the rebrand and rollout, the most interesting thing about this whiskey isn’t what’s on the label. It’s what’s in the glass—and how it came to be there.

When Helen Mulholland joined the Hawk’s Rock team, she was already a legend in the world of Irish whiskey. The first woman to ever hold the title of Master Blender in the industry, she’s spent over three decades defining what Irish single malt can be. But Garavogue? This was something else entirely.

“Never in my lifetime have I created a whiskey like this,” she said during a recent media tasting. “As a blender, you’re taught to be restrained, to find balance. This—this was about letting go a little.”