Quintessential acquires Dublin Whiskey Co

International drinks group Quintessential Brands has announced the acquisition of the Dublin Whiskey Company as part of a €10 million investment that will see it build a new Dublin whiskey distillery and visitor experience for its established portfolio of Irish whiskey brands including The Dubliner and The Dublin Liberties. 

The multi-million €uro acquisition includes the historic Old Mill Street building in the heart of the Liberties which was traditionally the centre of whiskey distillation in Dublin.

The site has full planning permission for a distillery and a unique natural spring water source to be used in the process and the development will support up to 55 jobs over the next 18 months.

This latest investment follows Quintessential Brands’ acquisition of First Ireland Spirits in 2014 which included its Irish cream brands (which sell over 1.3 million cases internationally) and liqueur brands as well as its production facility in Abbeyleix, Co Laois employing 40 people. The Group’s ongoing strategy is to grow its brands and operations in Ireland. First Ireland Spirits has been in the whiskey business since 1994 and returned pre-tax profits of €446,452 in the year to March 2015 on sales of nearly €19 million.

In 2015, Quintessential Brands Ireland invested €4 million in doubling the production capacity of First Ireland Spirits including the introduction of a comprehensive whiskey bottling operation.  It already employs 40 people in Ireland.

“The addition of the Dublin Whiskey Company paves the way for us to create an Irish whiskey distillery and a home for our Irish whiskey brands in the famous Liberties area of Dublin which will allow us to further develop our Irish whiskey portfolio and become a leader in Irish spirits,” commented Quintessential Brands’ Chief Executive Warren Scott.

The Dublin Whiskey Company distillery will produce single malt Irish whiskey and we will have the first spirit flowing from the stills at the end of Summer 2017.

First Ireland Spirits has been in the whiskey business since 1994.

The distillery will employ up to 15 people and up to a further 40 people will be involved in its construction.

The Dubliner Irish Whiskey and The Dublin Liberties Irish Whiskey are already sold in a number of markets including the US, Ireland and the UK which will soon extend to over 50 countries around the world.

Quintessential’s  Irish cream brands are produced by First Ireland Spirits and sell over 1.3 million cases onto the international market.

Quintessential also announced the appointment of renowned Irish whiskey distiller Darryl McNally as General Manager and Master Distiller of its Irish whiskey operations.

Previously, Darryl was Operations Manager and Master Distiller at Bushmills Distillery where he worked for 17 years having responsibility for day-to-day operations, distilling and supply chain and – as Bushmills’ Distiller – for all whiskeys produced.