Make Your Own Gin in Dublin: Accelerated Gin School & Distilling Academy at Stillgarden Distillery

On a bright street in Dublin 8, Accelerated Gin School & Distilling Academy turns a distillery visit into a hands-on laboratory for anyone who wants to bottle their own spirit. Located at Stillgarden Distillery in Dublin 8, County Dublin, Ireland, the experience runs about 1 to 1.25 hours and pairs a theatrical tour with practical distilling know‑how. Guests begin with a welcome cocktail before moving to the wall of 120 botanicals — a curated display of herbs, peels, seeds and aromatics you can mix into your own gin, vodka, or even a sambuca-style spirit. An expert guide frames each botanical’s role in flavor, then helps you sketch a recipe and choose proportions. The highlight is crafting a personalized bottle: the team blends your selections, labels the bottle with your recipe, and readies it for collection within two hours or shipment across Ireland and Northern Europe for a modest fee. Tastings are staged like a flight at a tasting bar: a paddle of four spirits plus a mixer that sharpens your palate and helps you refine balance, sweetness and botanical intensity. For those who want to extend the evening there’s a Cocktail Masterclass in Lab8, the venue’s speakeasy-style teaching room, and a small charcuterie spread keeps the mood convivial. The terrace catches sun through much of the day, so the event works equally well on grey Dublin afternoons and bright summer visits. What makes this offering stand out in Dublin’s craft-distilling scene is the scale of botanical choice and the interactive pace: it’s part science lab, part tasting room, part performance. The experience is tailored and social—groups up to 22 can participate—so it’s ideal for stag parties, team outings, rainy-day plans, or learning-centered city stops. Practical details matter: participants must be 18+ and may choose bottle collection or paid delivery; the session is compact, educational, and largely accessible to anyone without prior distilling experience. Ask about the Premium Gin School upgrade if you want a deeper technical walk-through of distillation and botanical extraction. Insider visitors should linger to chat with distillers about botanical sourcing, note subtleties between gin, vodka and sambuca styles, and take advantage of the sunny terrace. Whether you leave with a bespoke bottle to show friends or with a sharper sense of how botanicals shape spirits, Accelerated Gin School & Distilling Academy offers a memorable, hands-on way to experience Dublin’s contemporary distilling revival. Your bottle will be ready for collection within two hours, or the distillery can arrange delivery for €12 P&P within Ireland or €35 P&P to Northern Europe — an option for travelers. Sessions accommodate up to 22 people, making the school a social learning experience and a stop on a Dublin food and drink itinerary.