Connacht Whiskey Distillery Opens
A dream to bring pure pot still Irish whiskey back to the West of Ireland after an absence of over 100 years has taken its first official step when The Connacht Whiskey Distillery in Ballina, County Mayo was opened. The €10 million investment will generate 40 new jobs at the 27,000 square feet distillery which also features a visitor centre. The Distillery expects to produce up to 70,000 cases per year. It is only the second Connacht-based craft whiskey distillery, and one of a handful of developed craft distilleries across the country.
Connacht Whiskey director and past president and chief executive of Remy Cointreau USA, Tom Jensen says: “Irish whiskey is the fastest-growing whiskey in the US, but is outsold by scotch 4 to 1. Unlike scotch, Irish whiskey lacks regionally produced whiskeys that reflect the various terroirs of Ireland. Our goal is to introduce US consumers to the beauty of a hand crafted, pot distilled Irish whiskey from Western Ireland.”
Rob Cassell, master distiller at Connacht Whiskey, designed the stills at the Distillery which are the only ones of their kind in Ireland. He comments: “We are very different from the massive, production-driven Irish distilleries that have been in the news lately. We are a company focused on bringing consumers small batch Irish whiskey that is smooth, full of character and has a distinctive flavour.”
Michael Cantwell, head of Food Division, Enterprise Ireland, comments: “The Connacht Whiskey Distillery has cultivated the roots of tradition with ambitious and highly innovative thinking to grow a company with the potential to scale rapidly in international markets from its Ballina base. Enterprise Ireland has worked closely with the company in implementing their plans and we look forward to focusing on driving their export sales, creating and sustaining jobs in Ireland for the future.”
CAPTION:
David Stapleton, Rob Cassell, Tom Jensen and PJ Stapleton at the stills, which were designed by Rob Cassell, master distiller, and are the only ones of their kind in Ireland.
