Tullamore Dew opens €35m distillery

William Grant & Sons has opened a new €35 million distillery designed to help it meet demand for Irish whiskey brand Tullamore Dew.

Photo credit: Jeff Harvey

Two years after the project was first announced in the wake of William Grant’s 2010 acquisition of the distillery, Irish minister Simon Coveney officially opened the new facility.

Located on a 58-acre site in Clonminch, the distillery’s four stills, six fermenters and 100,000 cask capacity warehouse will be able to produce the equivalent of 1.5m cases of Tullamore Dew each year to help the brand meet growing international demand.

The move represents one of the most significant of a flurry of recent investments by spirit groups in the Irish whiskey sector, including Beam Inc’s 2011 purchase of Cooley Distillery and the €100m expansion of its Midleton facility by Pernod Ricard subsidiary Irish Distillers.

Speaking at the official opening ceremony, William Grant & Sons chief executive Stella David said: “This new facility will secure our future production demands for the rest of the century as Irish whiskey embarks on its most exciting chapter yet.”

Pointing to “unprecedented” opportunities for the 185-year old brand, she confirmed: “We are committed to Tullamore Dew and are focused on building the brand and investing for the long-term.”

Meanwhile Coveney hailed Irish whiskey as “a star of the Irish food and drink industry and the fastest growing spirit on world markets.” He commented: Today I am again impressed by the confidence of the companies investing €1 billion in Irish whiskey over a period of ten years.”