Home of Jameson’s €11m reopening
The new look ‘Jameson Distillery Bow St’ brand home, which was officially opened by Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe TD, will support the Irish Whiskey Tourism Strategy target of trebling the number of Irish whiskey tourists visiting Ireland annually to 1.9 million by 2025.
“Each year over 600,000 tourists pass through Irish whiskey visitor centres to experience first-hand the heritage behind this time-honoured spirit and hear the stories of established and emerging distilleries,” said the Minister, speaking at the opening of Jameson Distillery Bow St, “Smithfield and its wider Dublin environs have a rich history and vibrant cultural scene which will also continue to attract and enthral visitors from near and far.”
Chairman and Chief Executive of Irish Distillers Jean-Christophe Coutures, added, “As the home of Jameson, Smithfield has an incredibly important place in our history. We’ve grown up on Bow Street and welcomed over four million whiskey-lovers through our doors since the opening of the Old Jameson Distillery brand home in 1997. With this latest investment, we place storytelling at the core of the visitor experience, drawing on state-of-the-art technology to bring the 230-year history of Bow Street to life, with a variety of tour options to cater for everyone.”
Ray Dempsey, who’s been General Manager at the Jameson brand home in Smithfield since its opening in 1997, commented, “Visitors can look forward to immersive storytelling where they’ll be invited to touch, smell and most importantly, taste Jameson in the original Bow St Distillery building. As Smithfield continues to experience a cultural resurgence, we’re incredibly excited to be part of this thriving community and look forward to being here long into the future.”
With 27 years of consecutive growth, the redeveloped Jameson brand home draws on cutting-edge technology to complement the historic surroundings of this iconic distillery. Three fully-guided tours are offered: ‘The Bow St. Experience’ tasting tour focuses on the stories of Jameson’s rich heritage and ongoing innovations while ‘The Whiskey Makers’ and ‘The Whiskey Shakers’ experiences provide more in-depth whiskey and cocktail masterclasses, both including the opportunity to sample whiskey straight from a cask in the distillery’s new live maturation house.
Construction work began in September with approximately 100 people employed as part of the redevelopment work.
