Whisky Focus - Irish Distillers Announces €150 Million Expansion In Cork and Dublin

As the demand for Irish whiskey continues to soar worldwide, Irish Distiller's, who produce a number of the most popular Irish whiskies on the market, have announced that they are to invest more than €150 million into their Midleton Distillery and Dungourney maturation site in Co. Cork, and Fox and Geese bottling plant in Dublin over the next two years.

Over the next two years Irish Distillers plans to:

• Spend around €130 million expanding and upgrading their Midleton Distillery and the maturation site in Dungourney, Co. Cork.
   
• Spend over €20 million on upgrades to their Fox and Geese bottling site in Dublin, including extensions to the main operating bottling hall and storage warehouses.
   
• Construct eight new maturation warehouses, which will each hold 16,800 casks each. The eight new warehouse will be built at Dungourney maturation site in Co. Cork.
   
• Install additional equipment in the Midleton Distillery to expand production capacity.

This investment of over €150 million from Irish Distillers in its sites in Cork and Dublin has been fuelled by the continued renaissance of Irish whiskey and the continued growth of Jameson whiskey in particular which is the world’s fastest-growing Irish whiskey, experiencing 28 years of consecutive growth and hitting sales of 7.3m cases in 2017/18. Jameson whiskey is now in double or triple-digit growth in more than 80 markets across the world.

The company has also added an additional mechanical vapour recompression evaporator, made by GEA Wiegand in Germany, to its Midleton Distillery in East Cork. The addition allows the distillery to further expand its capacity. A third mash filter and new fermenters are also to be installed in the distillery to meet the increasing demand for its portfolio of whiskeys. The distillery will also complete construction of a new office building in July 2019.

Investment in Irish Distillers’ bottling site in Fox and Geese will see extensions to the main operating bottling hall, storage warehouses, laboratory, and office spaces and additional upgrades to bottling and packing equipment.

Commenting on the investment, Conor McQuaid, Chairman and CEO said: "This €150 million investment in Midleton, Dungourney and Fox and Geese reflects the growing international success of Irish Distillers’ whiskey portfolio. With a tradition dating back to 1780, we have been distilling in the Midleton Distillery since 1975 and we are delighted to confirm our commitment to this tradition, and at the same time continue to embrace progress, delivering new and innovative expressions of Irish whiskey. We look forward to building upon our success story by continuing to bring innovative Irish whiskeys to the market.

"Irish whiskey is the fastest growing premium spirit in the world, with sales now accounting for more than one third of all Irish beverage exports. This investment will help to allow this growth to continue for years to come. The company is proud to play its role in the Irish drinks industry, which is a hugely important part of the Irish economy."

Irish Distillers impressive Irish whiskey portfolio includes Jameson, Powers, Redbreast, Midleton , The Spots, Dunphy's all of which are available from specialist online whisky retailers such as The Whisky Exchange, The Whisky Shop and Master of Malt
 

• UK Shops
   
• USA Shops
   
• European Shops
  

Whisky Focus