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The first of
two new Irish whiskey distilleries which
will form Irelands largest independent
distillery, the Great Northern
Distillery has gone into production.
The Great Northern Distillery has begun
to distil in the first of two
distilleries built on the former Harp
Brewery site in Dundalk, Co. Louth,
Ireland. The
two new distilleries adapted and
extended, at a cost of €10 million, the
world class brewing facilities which
existed on the site which had been
brewing for 120 years up to 2014.
Following the investment by Great
Northern Distillery a 30 million bottle
a year capacity three-column still grain
whiskey distillery is now producing new
spirit. This will be casked in oak
barrels and matured in bonded warehouses
for at least three years before it can
be called Irish whiskey.
A sister distillery on the site is being
commissioned and will begin distillation
by the end of August. The second
distillery has three large copper pots
capable of distilling 12 million bottles
a year of single malt and pot still
whiskey.
The site, only the third grain
distillery in the country, was
identified as being most suitable to
house the distillery due to a range of
factors. A dedicated water supply,
perfect for distilling whiskey, is piped
directly to the site from the Cooley
Mountains. Natural gas is delivered on
site. A sophisticated effluent control
system feeds into the Dundalk Town
sewerage system. Excellent local
engineering skills were available and a
deep pool of skilled workers. Some of
the new employees, in what is a largely
automated plant, are former Harp
workers.
Great Northern Distillery will supply a
range of whiskies to the new Irish
distilleries coming on stream and to the
Retail Own Label and Private Label
segments worldwide. Irish whiskey is
growing rapidly and is expected to
double sales to 250 million bottles by
2024, still only a small fraction of
Scotch sales.
As more and more international drinkers
discover the superior qualities of Irish
whiskey, mellow and smooth, the range of
Irish whiskeys offered is expanding to
serve different tastes. The bulk of
Irish sold will be a blend of grain
and/or malt or pot still. Most of the
new distilleries under construction or
consideration are pot still. The owners
will need a consistent supply of quality
grain whiskey to blend with their
premium malts and pot still whiskeys.
Great Northern Distillery expects to be
a major supplier to this market.
The second market for Great Northern
Distillery is Retail Own Label and
Private Label whiskeys. These will be
mainly entry level and value labels not
of interest to most of the new
distilleries. Great Northern Distillery
has the scale and the capacity to supply
these markets on an international basis.
Great Northern Distillery is owned by
the Teeling family and two former
directors of Cooley Distillery, Jim Finn
and David Hynes
John Teeling co-founder of Great
Northern Distillery, commented “It is 95
years since the last whiskey stills went
dark in Dundalk, where the Dundalk
Distillery had operated since 1800. It
is 120 years since brewing started on
what is now the Great Northern
Distillery site. Dundalk is a good town
for business. Good local skills, a good
tradition of engineering, a pro-business
council all combined with a strong
project management team and a top class
distiller. We are reviving the whiskey
tradition and continuing alcohol
production on what is a wonderful site.
With fair winds, distillation will
continue on the Great Northern
Distillery site for the next 100 years.
Irish whiskey is on a roll – but from a
tiny base. When the Dundalk Distillery
was set up in 1800 Irish whiskey was the
dominant force in world markets. Up to
1860 this strengthened to a position
where Irish had about 60% of world sales
and was sold all over the world. Due to
a combination of circumstances and poor
management, Irish whiskey was virtually
wiped out. From hundreds of distilleries
it fell to one in 1973. The share of
Irish in the world market fell to less
than 2% of Scotch. Even then it was
mainly sold in Ireland as brands and
aboard as Irish coffee.
When the Great Northern Distillery
founders set up Cooley Distillery in
1987, it was the first new Irish whiskey
distillery in 100 years. It was a long
road to success. Now look at Irish
whiskey, the fastest growing brown
spirit in the world. Most of the world’s
major drinks companies are now in the
sector. There are 20 plus new
distilleries in the works. But,
critically, Irish is now the drink of
choice for 25-39 year olds, almost half
of them female. The revival is only in
its infancy. Irish is not available in
most of the world. Worldwide sales are
about 10 million cases now. The Indian
market for whiskey is 350 million
cases!!! Carpe Diem.
Great Northern Distillery has an
important role to play in the
renaissance. We know how to distil good
whiskey. Because of the size and
automation of our distilleries we can
supply at good prices. We have the
capacity to meet needs for a long time.”
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