The Tullamore Distillery is an

Irish whiskey Irish whiskey ( ga, Fuisce or ''uisce beatha'') is whiskey made on the island of Ireland. The word 'whiskey' (or whisky) comes from the Irish , meaning ''water of life''. Irish whiskey was once the most popular spirit in the world, though a lo ...

distillery located in

Tullamore Tullamore (; ) is the county town of County Offaly in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is on the Grand Canal (Ireland), Grand Canal, in the middle of the county, and is the fourth most populous town in the Midland Region, Ireland, midlands reg ...

County Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

, Ireland. Built by

William Grant & Sons William Grant & Sons Ltd is an independent, family-owned Scottish company that distills Scotch whisky and other selected categories of spirits. It was established in 1887 by William Grant, and is run by Grant's descendants as of 2018. It is the ...

at a cost of €35 million, the distillery officially opened in September 2014. It is the first new distillery to have been constructed on a greenfield site in Ireland in over 100 years, and the first to operate in Tullamore since 1954. Construction of the distillery is proceeding on a phased basis. When first constructed, the distillery initially had the capacity to produce up to 1.8 million litres of

pot still A pot still is a type of distillation apparatus or still used to distill liquors such as whisky or brandy. In modern (post-1850s) practice, they are not used to produce rectified spirit, because they do not separate congeners from ethanol as eff ...

and

malt whiskey Malt whisky is whisky made from a fermented mash consisting primarily of malted barley. If the product is made exclusively at a single distillery (along with other restrictions), it is typically called a single malt whisky. Although malt whisky ca ...

per annum using four pot stills. However, provision has been made for the installation of a further two

s in the distillery, which would double this capacity to 3.6 million litres per annum. Following an additional €25 million investment, a grain distillery and bottling plant were added in 2017. The installation of a grain distillery means that the distillery can now produce all three components (pot still, malt, and grain whiskey) of its Tullamore D.E.W. blended whiskey on-site.

Background

In 1829, the

Old Tullamore Distillery The Old Tullamore Distillery was an Irish whiskey distillery which was established in Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland, in 1829. The original home of Tullamore Dew Irish whiskey, the distillery closed in 1954, having endured financial difficult ...

was established in Tullamore. In the late 1800s, the General manager, and later owner of the distillery, Daniel E. Williams, launched a whiskey named

Tullamore D.E.W. Tullamore Dew, rendered in most branding as Tullamore D.E.W. (typically with the dots de-emphasised using colour and font size), is a brand of Irish whiskey produced by William Grant & Sons. It is the second-largest-selling brand of Irish whis ...

, whose name was taken from his initials, D.E.W. Although the whiskey gained significant success, the distillery later closed in 1954 having suffered financial difficulties. However, the brand was kept alive. In 2010, William Grant & Sons purchased the brand, the second largest Irish whiskey brand globally, from its then owners, the

C&C Group C&C Group plc (known prior to its flotation as Cantrell & Cochrane Limited) is an Irish manufacturer, marketer and distributor of alcoholic drinks, particularly cider, and soft drinks. It has production facilities across Ireland, Great Britain ...

. At the time, Tullamore D.E.W. was produced under contract by

Irish Distillers Irish Distillers is a subsidiary of the French drinks conglomerate Pernod Ricard. It is the largest distiller of Irish whiskey, distilling popular brands such as Jameson and Powers, in addition to premium whiskeys such as Redbreast and Midleton ...

at the Midleton Distillery in County Cork. As expansion of the brand was limited by their capacity to obtain spirit from

, William Grant & Sons opted to construct their own distillery in Tullamore, the brand's original home.

References

External links

Tullamore D.E.W.
{{Irish whiskey Distilleries in the Republic of Ireland Tourist attractions in County Offaly Irish companies established in 2014