Work to start on Walsh Whiskey Distillery
The construction process will provide up to 70 jobs during the 18-month development phase and the distillery is scheduled to be fully completed in Spring 2016.
Whiskey production will commence before that, in late 2015.
The distillery will have capacity to produce 500,000 cases of whiskey a year and will be the only distillery in Ireland producing all three types of Irish whiskey – pot, malt and grain – in one still house.
“This is the first time a purpose-built distillery has been constructed in Carlow in over 200 years,” commented Walsh Whiskey Distillery Founder Bernard Walsh.
Located on an 18th Century estate comprising 40 acres of pastoral land the distillery will feature two production lines, incorporating three copper stills (three pot stills and one twin column ‘Coffey’ still) and two maturation houses with capacity for 60,000 barrels.
Essential maintenance and renovation work is already underway on Holloden House which dates back to around 1760 and which will form part of the visitor experience for the 75,000 annual whiskey tourists expected by 2021.
The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, through Enterprise Ireland, is supporting the project.