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As the global demand for
Irish whiskey continues to soar Midleton Distillery
this week took delivery of three new copper pot
stills as part of a €10million investment to
increase production capacity.
Irish Distillers, producer of many of world’s most
popular and successful Irish whiskeys, such as
Redbreast and Jameson has today announced plans for
a €10.5 million investment at their Midleton
Distillery in Cork which will see the company
increase its single pot still Irish whiskey
production capacity by over 30%.
The company has already began work to install three
new copper pot stills at Midleton Distillery. The
investment in the distillery will ensure that Irish
Distillers will continue to lead the global Irish
whiskey renaissance and supporting the Irish Whiskey
Association’s target of global growth of 300% by
2030. 60 jobs will be supported during the
construction phase.
Irish whiskey is the fastest growing premium spirit
globally and Irish Distillers has invested heavily
in the past few years to drive this growth. Since
2012, Irish Distillers has invested €120 million in
the Midleton Distillery, €20 million at its Fox and
Geese bottling facility in Dublin and is currently
investing €100 million at its Dungourney maturation
site. In August 2016, the company also announced an
€11 million redevelopment project at the Old Jameson
Distillery in Smithfield, Dublin to showcase the
best of Irish whiskey to the 600,000 whiskey
tourists that come to Ireland every year.
Commenting on the latest investment, Jean-Christophe
Coutures, Chairman and CEO of Irish Distillers said:
"Irish whiskey continues to enjoy phenomenal global
growth, led by Jameson with sales of 5.7 million
cases in 2016. Irish Distillers has been driving the
growth of the category since 1988, a commitment
further underpinned by investments of over €230
million since 2012. With this additional investment
of over €10 million at Midleton, the home of Irish
whiskey, we will ensure that we are positioned to
meet growing global demand and support the growth of
Irish whiskey in the international spirits category.
"We are seeing growth accelerating across Jameson
and the wider Single Pot Still Irish whiskey range
and we will continue to direct our focus for growth
here. With our increased production capacity, we are
confident that the category will hit the ambitious
targets set by the Irish Whiskey Association -
increasing exports to 12 million cases by 2020 and
24 million cases by 2030."
Paul Wickham, General Manager of Midleton Distillery
added: "Single pot still Irish whiskey is the
quintessential style of Irish whiskey which Irish
Distillers saved from virtual extinction in the
mid-1900s. Since then we have been investing to
protect this traditional Irish whiskey and today’s
announcement will help us grow Irish whiskey even
further over the next 30 years and beyond.
"This investment will also see us increase our
support for the wider Cork economy. All our barley
comes from farms located within 100 miles of
Midleton Distillery, supporting families who have
produced barley for centuries. Using unmalted barley
is a long-standing tradition of Irish whiskey and
one which Irish Distillers continues, believing it
contributes to the smooth characteristics of our
products. At present, we spend €60 million annually
on cereals, energy, capital projects and payroll in
the local economy and this will increase with the
installation of these new stills."
The three copper pot stills, handmade by master
coppersmiths Forsyth’s of Scotland and weighing a
combined 24 tonnes, were delivered to Midleton
Distillery this week. Installation has now commenced
and the stills will be operational by June 2017.
You will find the current range of Irish Distiller's
whiskies available for worldwide delivery
from specialist online whisky shops
such as
Master of Malt.
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