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Whiskey Production to resume in
Tullamore after 60 years following
William Grant & Sons €35 million
investment.
 William
Grant & Sons Ltd., the owner of
Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey, today
announced it will invest in a new, state
of the art pot still whiskey and malt
whiskey distillery in Tullamore town,
bringing whiskey production back to the
town for the first time since the
original distillery closed in 1954. The
€35 million investment will meet the
long-term production demands for
Tullamore Dew, the world’s second
largest Irish whiskey brand, which is
currently growing by over 15% annually
and is central to the growth plans of
William Grant & Sons, which bought the
brand in July 2010.
William Grant & Sons has agreed
principal terms and is in the final
stages of negotiating the purchase of a
58 acre site at Clonminch on the
outskirts of Tullamore from Offaly
County Council. The location offers a
plentiful supply of natural, quality
spring water from the nearby Slieve
Bloom mountains, ideal for the triple
distillation process used in Tullamore
Dew.
Work on the new distillery, which will
utilise the latest in green technology
is scheduled to begin later this year,
subject to planning permission, and will
support in the region of 100
construction jobs during the two-year
building phase. When combined with the
new Tullamore Dew Visitor Centre,
scheduled to open in September 2012, the
total number employed by the firm in the
town will rise to around 25. Tullamore
Dew will continue to be bottled at its
current facility in Clonmel, where it
employs over 60 people.
"This investment by William Grant & Sons
underpins our long-term commitment to
Tullamore Dew, the town of Tullamore and
Ireland. It represents an important next
step in the long-term growth and
development of the Tullamore Dew brand,
one of Ireland’s food and drink export
success stories, which is now the second
largest selling Irish whiskey worldwide.
We’re excited about bringing whiskey
distilling back to Tullamore Dew’s roots
for the first time in almost 60 years."
said William Grant & Sons’ Chief
Executive, Stella David.
"The new distillery will not only cement
William Grant & Sons’ presence in
Ireland, but reinforces the fact that
the brand is now firmly rooted back in
its original home of Tullamore. Our
distillery will combine traditional
distillation practices with the very
latest in modern and green technologies
to prepare the brand for future growth,
while making sure the exact same taste
and quality which has made Tullamore Dew
famous around the world continues to be
delivered. Irish whiskey is a major
growth story internationally and with
this investment we’re looking forward to
putting Tullamore Dew and the Midlands
region back on the map as one of
Ireland’s premier whiskey producing
regions," said William Grant & Sons’
Group Marketing Director, Maurice Doyle.
"Offaly County Council is extremely
pleased and proud to welcome Tullamore
Dew back home in this manner. William
Grant & Sons has invested significantly
in the brand over the past 18 months
with the refurbishment of the Tullamore
Dew Visitor Centre, and now with the
plans to construct the distillery have
shown the ultimate commitment to the
region. Tullamore has long been famed
for its production of whiskey and I look
forward to the first liquid flowing from
the stills", said County Manager, Offaly
County Council, Pat Gallagher.
Tullamore Dew Global Brand Director
Shane Hoyne said the new distillery was
a key element of the international
growth of Irish whiskey. “If you think
back to the 1800s there were literally
hundreds of distilleries and many
hundreds more stills dotted all around
the country. Since then however Irish
whiskey was decimated due to a number of
factors including Prohibition, the Great
Depression and our own economic and
political troubles here at home.
Tullamore Dew is ‘Irish True’ and
re-establishing Tullamore Dew’s
distillation in a world class distillery
in Tullamore, combined with the imminent
opening of the new Tullamore Dew Visitor
Centre establishes both a real and an
emotional home for the brand. This is a
dream come true for the brand and its
fans around the world and I am sure
Daniel E Williams, whose name our
whiskey bears, will be looking down
proudly seeing whiskey production resume
in the town he loved”.
Tullamore Dew is currently one of the
fastest growing Irish whiskey brands,
almost doubling worldwide sales to
almost 700,000 cases since 2005. It is
the largest selling Irish whiskey in
many markets in Northern and Central
Europe while in several countries,
including Denmark, Czech Republic and
Latvia it is the largest selling
whisk(e)y of any type. The plan for a
new distillery has been prompted by the
brand’s rapid growth, driven largely by
increased consumer demand for Irish
whiskey in the USA and emerging Irish
whiskey markets such as Germany, Sweden
and Eastern Europe where the brand
already occupies a leadership position
and is outperforming its competitors.
William Grant & Sons currently employs
over 80 people in Ireland – in Clonmel,
Tullamore and Dublin.
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