Rare bottle of old Irish whiskey to go up for auction

The 1880s bottle of Cassidy & Co Monasterevin whiskey was matured by the Cassidy family, who made whiskey at their Co Kildare mill from 1784 until 1921.

In recent years, the Ballykelly Mill has been restored by businessman Paddy McKillen, who plans to open a distillery and visitor centre on the site and revive Monasterevin’s heritage of producing fine whiskey.

U2 frontman Bono is believed to be an investor.

The item is set to go for auction at Victor Mee Auctions in Cavan on July 31, with an estimate of between 5,000 euro (£4,490) and 10,000 euro.

The hand-blown, unopened bottle, is one of only two known such bottles – the other is housed in the Irish Whiskey museum.

The whiskey has been described by the auction house as the star lot in the Clermont Collection Rare Advertising, Pub Memorabilia and Architectural Fittings sale, which will take place over two days from July 30-31.

It also includes a rare early 20th century large Irish copper whiskey cylinder, which holds roughly 300 litres. It is expected to sell for up to 1,800 euro (£1,617).

The auction house said they expected it might be of interest to a publican who might display it in their bar.

The sale also offers bidders the chance to own pieces of the history of Louth institution, the Clermont Arms pub in Blackrock.

Auctioneer Bryan Mee said: “Whiskey is another area of expertise for us at Victor Mee Auctions and selling extremely rare bottles of whiskey is becoming a common occurrence for us, much to our delight.”