Helen Mulholland

Helen Mulholland is a Northern Irish whiskey distiller and master blender. She is the first woman master blender in Irish whiskey history and the current chair of the Irish Whiskey Association.

Early life and education

Mulholland was born in Portstewart, Northern Ireland. She describes being brought up in a practically "dry" household, as her parents never drank alcohol; it was only in the house for visitors. She received a degree in food technology from the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise followed by a masters degree, also in food technology, from the University of Reading. She worked as a lab technician She was part of the team at Bushmills that discovered crystalised malt, which enhances the natural sweetness of a whiskey. Mulholland later used the crystal malt to create the Bushmills 1608, which won "Best Irish Blended Whisky" from the World Whisky Awards in 2008. She became vice-chair of the Irish Whiskey Association in 2022, and in 2024 became the Chair, the first woman to do so. She is also a member of the Last Drop Distillers' Assembly, an international whiskey organisation.

Awards and honors

In 2018, named to Whisky Magazine's Hall of Fame, the first woman to receive this honour In 2020, received the Drinks Ireland-Irish Whiskey Association Chairman's Award for her "outstanding contribution to the development of Irish whiskey", the first woman to receive this award