William Grant opens €35m Tullamore distillery

William Grant & Sons, owner of Tullamore D.E.W. Irish whiskey, has officially opened its new state-of-the-art whiskey distillery in Tullamore, Co Offaly, Ireland, after two years of construction.

This s first new distillery to be constructed on a greenfield site in Ireland in over 100 years and one of the most significant investments to date in the resurgent Irish whiskey sector. It is also one of the largest projects undertaken by William Grant & Sons. Located on a 58 acre site in Clonminch on the outskirts of Tullamore, the distillery draws on spring water from the Slieve Bloom mountains. Tullamore Distillery will be capable of producing the equivalent of 1.5m cases of Tullamore D.E.W. annually. 

Stella David, William Grant & Sons’ CEO says: “This new facility will secure our future production demands for the rest of the century as Irish whiskey embarks on its most exciting chapter yet.  Tullamore D.E.W. is 185 years old but this is a significant day in its history as the opportunities now open to the brand are unprecedented.  We are committed to Tullamore D.E.W. and are focused on building the brand and investing for the long-term.”

Production operations are headed at the facility by process leader, Denise Devenny. The Distillery features four hand crafted copper stills, designed to resemble the original stills from the old Tullamore distillery, six brew house fermenters each with a 34,000 litre capacity and warehouse storage for 100,000 casks.

The construction project was led by William Grant & Sons’ head engineer, John Stevenson, with more than 1,200 specialist distillery engineers and construction workers spending a combined 475,000 working days to complete the build on-schedule and on-budget. 

27 September 2014 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, editor