Walsh Whiskey opens €25m distillery

Walsh Whiskey Distillery has officially opened its €25 million Irish whiskey distillery in Royal Oak, County Carlow, Ireland.

Bernard Walsh, CEO of Walsh Whiskey Distillery

Located on an 18th century, 40-acre estate, the distillery is said to be the only independent Irish whiskey distillery producing all three styles of Irish whiskey – pot still, malt and grain – from its two production lines using both pot stills and column stills. 

Illva Saronno, which owns Disaronno and Tia Maria, holds a 50% stake in the Walsh Whiskey Distillery, which is now distilling The Irishman and Writers Tears whiskies, which are already sold in 40 countries worldwide.

It has the capacity to produce 650,000 cases, or eight million bottles, of whiskey annually, which represented 9.7% of the total Irish whiskey exports in 2014.

The distillery will also include two maturation houses with capacity for 60,000 barrels, with work expected to start on these buildings in 2017.

“After 17 years in business, the opening of our own distillery is both the fulfilment of Rosemary and my own dreams and a game changing moment for the company,” said Bernard Walsh, co-founder of the Walsh Whiskey Distillery.

“We are now in control of our destiny and have the capacity, variety and relationships to play our part in the continued revival of Irish whiskey which is one of this country’s great traditions.”

The distillery will be open to the public with a visitor experience set to open from July, with some 75,000 ‘whiskey tourists’ expected to visit annually by 2021. The company began distilling this year and will be releasing its first stocks in 2019 after a minimum three year maturation period.

The Walsh Whiskey Distillery will have the capacity to produce 8m bottles of whiskey a year