William Grant & Sons, the independent family-owned distiller and owner of Tullamore D.E.W. Irish Whiskey, has officially opened its new $50 million state-of-the-art distillery in Tullamore, Co Offaly, Ireland.
The first spirit flowed from the newly installed stills on Wednesday following two years of construction, marking the return of whiskey production to Tullamore 60 years after the original distillery closed its doors.
The Tullamore Distillery is the first new distillery to be constructed on a greenfield site in Ireland in over 100 years and is 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 the finest natural spring water from the Slieve Bloom Mountains.
Tullamore Distillery will be capable of producing the equivalent of 1.5 million cases of Tullamore D.E.W. annually.
The distillery was built to meet the growing international demand for Tullamore D.E.W., which is now the second largest Irish whiskey in the world.
William Grant & Sons Ltd chief executive Stella David said the new facility will secure the company's future production demands for the rest of the century as Irish whiskey embarks on its most exciting chapter yet.
"Distilling began in Tullamore 185 years ago and this is a significant day for both the town and Tullamore D.E.W. as the opportunities now open to the category are unprecedented. We are committed to Tullamore D.E.W. and are focused on building the brand and investing for the long-term.”
The Tullamore 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.
To commemorate the rising of the Distillery, Tullamore D.E.W. unveiled the very limited release of 2,014 bottles of Tullamore D.E.W. Celebratory Phoenix Single Batch, an exclusive expression of the Tullamore D.E.W. Phoenix range.