Meet the founder
Neil Saad - Founder and Head of Experiences
Every small company starts with one person and an idea.
At Kingdom Whiskey Experiences, this person was Neil Saad. Learn more about him, his journey through the world of whiskey and how he started the unique business that Kingdom Whiskey Experiences is.
Neil Saad
Neil's love for Irish whiskey began when he first set foot on Irish soil. During his first trip to Ireland in 2009, he enjoyed an innocent glass of whiskey at the hotel bar, not knowing what would follow. Hailing from the Ruhr Valley area in Germany, he became a regular visitor to Irish shores, visiting Ireland at least twice a year for the next decade or so. In 2021, while Covid-19 had a last, but not long-lasting rise, he finally moved his home from Dortmund, Germany, to County Kerry, Ireland.
While his journeys over the past 15 years brought Neil to every corner of Ireland, he also became an Irish whiskey enthusiast.
Writing about Ireland and Irish Whiskey
His love for the outdoors, big interest in Irish history and culture made him a part-time writer. His travel articles have been published since 2018 on the travel blog of the German tour agent Gruene-Insel.de.
A different side of his travels brought Neil to the many Irish distilleries. From countless meetings, talks and interviews with distillery owners, distillers, managers, ambassadors and many more people from the industry and wider community, he grew his understanding of whiskey and how it's made. As a result of his extensive research, he became co-host of Irish Whiskey News, the only German podcast, dedicated to whiskey made in Ireland. With his reputation growing, he started working as a freelance whiskey copywriter for spirit distributors in 2022.
Neil's first lines in a German whisky magazine were published in late 2025, when The Highland Herold released a 3-part series, Neil had spent two months on.
Neil Saad: For the love of Kerry whiskey
Falling in love with his new home Tralee and the rest of Kerry, Neil quickly became passionate about everything Kerry. Especially the local whiskey makers occupied a big part of his heart. So, when asked to do a whiskey tasting in a local pub in Tralee, he never hesitated saying yes - and, quite naturally, made it a Kerry whiskey tasting. This was the birth of Kingdom Whiskey Experiences.
In summer 2023, Neil started working at Dingle Distillery, tour guiding visitors from all parts of the world. Because of his vast experience with whiskey and knowledge of production, materials and flavours, his tours were highly rated by distillery visitors.
When the distillery closed the visitor centre for the winter, he left the company and Kingdom Whiskey Experience started to grow. Now a vital part of Kerry's drinks landscape, Neil and his business have been widely acknowledged by the local producers.
Neil's own whiskey: Experimental Wood Cask Series
It's every whiskey-lovers dream to bottle their own whiskey, created from scratch, telling a personal story. For Neil, this dream came true when he teamed-up with the German independent bottler Sebastian Buessing in 2022. After a chat, another idea grew, and 18 months later, The Woodpecker & The Leprechaun reached German shores. As a series of five bottlings, The Woodpecker & The Leprechaun follows a highly experimental approach - A single malt whiskey, finished in five different casks, made from different wood types, showcasing the unique influence each wood had on the base whiskey.