To mark St Patrick's Day (17 March), we talk to the head distiller at Dublin's young Roe & Co Distillery about its historical home and plans for the future
Lora Hemy Roe & Co Distillery
How did the idea to start Roe & Co come about? Who are the main figures behind it?
Roe & Co Irish Whiskey was made by bartenders for bartenders. The contemporary blend was inspired by the once world-famous George Roe & Co Distillery in Dublin. As neighbours for hundreds of years, George Roe & Co and Guinness were the two biggest names at the heart of Dublin’s historic brewing and distilling quarter.
Diageo master blender Caroline Martin partnered with a team of five hand-picked Irish bartenders who truly embody the liquid’s innovative spirit. The team sampled over 100 blends before creating this premium expression of Irish whiskey.
Tell me about the distillery – why was that particular location chosen? What has been done to renovate it? What does the distillery encompass now?
The distillery location on Thomas Street in Dublin was chosen to honour our brand heritage. In the mid-1800s, George Roe turned his family’s small distillery business into the largest distillery of its time in Ireland. In 2019, Roe & Co converted the iconic Guinness Power Station into a new urban distillery in the heart of Dublin's whiskey district and adjacent to where the former distillery once sat.
Roe & Co Distillery encompasses the Power House bar, the perfect place to enjoy a cocktail after touring the distillery or grab a drink after work! Each cocktail in our Drinks Manual is named after a former worker of the Old Guinness Power Station. Additionally, our pop-up Roe & Co Cocktail Village hosts visitors for mini-cocktail masterclasses, whiskey tastings and seasonal drinks.
With the distillery visitor centre still closed (to adhere to the government Covid-19 guidelines until further notice), I helped people get into the (virtual) St Patrick’s Day spirit a little early this year! Drinks expert Nial Molloy and I led a masterclass on how to make a Roe & Co twist on the classic Old Fashioned cocktail, before taking attendees on a virtual tour of Roe & Co Distillery’s Cocktail and Whiskey Experience.
You can stay up to date on the latest Roe & Co Distillery visitor centre news at www.roeandcowhiskey.com.
Irish whiskey is witnessing a resurgence at the moment – what can Irish whiskey offer consumers that they can’t get from, say, Scotch or American whiskies?
Irish whiskey is part of a global whiskey industry that delivers an incredible range of drinking experiences - I always describe whiskey as a universal sensory language wherever I am in the world. Within Irish whiskey, a unique range of production styles already exist, and at Roe & Co we have created an amazing blended whiskey utilising some of these. Whiskey is all about exploration and there is a lot to explore in Irish whiskey.
Where does Roe & Co want to position itself in this Irish whiskey resurgence? What does its short to medium-term future look like?
As a young brand, we very much take inspiration from the history of Irish whiskey, whilst also being very much part of a new generation of distilleries. We have all sorts of exciting projects planned that will both celebrate and reinvent our whiskey traditions. As a distiller my role is to lay down the spirit, building blocks of flavour that will become the whiskey of the future – and I can promise that we have lots more fun and flavour to deliver!
17 March 2021