We are delighted to welcome Johnny Burke to the Ahascragh Distillery team as Regional Sales Executive (Connacht). Johnny has over 17 years in hospitality, working in all facets of the industry including Kitchen porter, Chef, Barman and Mixologist. His passion for the drinks industry grew when he joined The Lodge at Ashford Castle as the in-house Mixologist. From there he would go on to win three awards for his cocktail creations including the ‘Best Cocktail in Ireland’ with the Great Irish Beverages Cocktail Competition. 

Johnny travelled to Sydney, Australia in 2018 where he became a bar supervisor at The Beresford Hotel within the Merivale group, where he created and launched their Autumnal cocktail menu. After some time abroad, he returned home to Mayo and took up a new role as manager of the Activity Centre on the Ashford Castle Estate, eventually staying on-site as Estate Activities Manager.

Johnny also holds a degree in Creative Design from IT Sligo, where he was awarded the Cat & Moon Design award in 2016. 

With his passion for Irish products and spirits, the whiskey industry was the right fit and he jumped at the opportunity to work alongside Gareth and Michelle McAllister at Ahascragh Distillery.  

He is looking forward to joining the Ahascragh Distillery team and being a part of our journey.