The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney T.D. officially 'turned the sod' today at the new Tullamore distillery site in Clonminch, Co. Offaly.
The new William Grant & Sons distillery will open in autumn 2014 and bring whiskey production back to the town 60 years after the original distillery closed in 1954. The distillery will employ 25 people when fully operational.
The €35 million investment will meet the export demands for the world’s second largest Irish whiskey brand, which is growing by 20% annually. The 58-acre site in Clonminch, Tullamore, will create up to 200 jobs for construction company Dunne (BCE) Ltd at peak construction phases.
Minister Coveney said, “I would like to commend William Grant & Sons for its commitment to the town of Tullamore where it is investing significantly to ensure that Tullamore Dew is coming back to its roots.”
"For many years, Irish whiskey has been one of the strongest and most distinctive products in the world, renowned for its quality and heritage, with a dual impact in terms of our exports and tourism. Tullamore Dew is one of the key drivers of this success," he said.
Stella David, William Grant & Sons' chief executive, said the new distillery would meet demand for the whiskey around the world.
"When we acquired the brand in 2010 we felt it was important to strengthen the link with Tullamore, which we have done through the distillery and the new Tullamore Dew Visitor Centre which reopened last year," she said.
Tullamore Dew has doubled global sales to almost 850,000 cases since 2005. The initial capacity of the pot still and malt distillery will be 1.84 million litres or 1.5 million cases per annum, with scope to increase over time.
