Planning permission granted for Tullamore distillery
The €35 million distillery to be developed on the 69-acre site at Ballard and Clonminch on the outskirts of the town will bring whiskey production back there for the first time since the original distillery went dark in 1954.
Work is to commence in April and it’s hoped that the project will be complete by the Summer of next year. The long-term plan envisages a pot and malt distillery building, warehousing, offices, and employee car park and visitor facilities
William Grant & Sons currently employs over 80 people in Ireland – in Clonmel, Tullamore and Dublin.Around 100 construction jobs will be supported in building the new distillery which follows on from the redevelopment of the Visitor Centre there which opened last September.
The new distillery will utilise the latest in green technology and will meet the long-term production demands for Tullamore Dew, currently growing by over 15% annually. Tullamore Dew’s Global Brand Director Shane Hoyne explained, “This new distillery is a significant step in the journey of Tullamore Dew which is now the second-largest selling Irish whiskey worldwide”.
Tullamore Dew has almost doubled worldwide sales to just under 760,000 cases per annum since 2005. The plan for a new distillery was prompted by the brand’s rapid growth, with a leadership position in many markets in Northern and Eastern Europe and sales growing year-on-year in Western Europe and by over 20% in the US.
Tullamore Dew was awarded ‘Best Irish Whiskey of the Year’ for its 10 Year-Old Single Malt at the third annual New York International Spirits Competition (NYISC) last year.
