Writers Tears considers itself a "pot still whiskey," which is a traditional method of Irish distillation using both malted and unmalted barley. It is considered a blended whiskey in that it is "vatted" in a marriage of the two different styles of whiskey. This is a blend of 100% barley-based whiskey (albeit not a single malt because some of the whiskey is unmalted) but there is no grain whiskey (ie, corn grain) in the blend, which is the case for many blended Irish Whiskey on the market. The name is inspired by a Gaelic folk song about whiskey tears, which signal the end of writers block for the Irish literati. The brand itself was founded by Bernard Walsh who selected different casks of whiskey for his particular blend. While the whiskey is sourced elsewhere, it is selected and bottled to specifications of the Walsh Whiskey Distillery so we list them as the producer.

The Walsh Whiskey Distillery was founded in 1999 by Bernard Walsh and enjoyed a ~$40 million expansion in 2013 with investment assistance from Illva Saronno of Italy. This expansion will include a fully operational distillery and warehouse that is intended to operate independently. It is expected to be completed in 2016 with a capacity of 6 million bottles per year.