Ireland to have 7 Distilleries by 2013

[TheWhiskeyBro]

Could this be true, so by 2013 there might be 7 distilling locations: Midleton, Bushmills, Riverstown, Kilbeggan, Dingle x 2, & Belfast.

The New Midleton Distillery(Irish Distillers Ltd - parent Pernod Ricard)

Bushmills Distillery (Diageo)

Cooley Distillery, Riverstown , Co. Louth (Cooley Distillery plc)

Kilbeggan Distillery, Co. Westmeath (Cooley Distillery plc) fully operational distillery at the old museum complex

Drioglann Daingean Ui Chuis - Dingle Whiskey Distillery (The Porterhouse Brewing Company) - distilling of white spirits commenced, whiskey distilling by end 2011.
http://www.thedinglewhiskeydistillery.ie/

Belfast 'Titanic' Distillery (The Belfast Distillery Company) - plans underway to have an operational distillery by 2013
http://harpers.co.uk/news/news-headline ... lfast.html

Dingle Brewery (The Dingle Brewery Ltd) - Brewery operational by July, distilling beer wort by September 2011
http://www.kerryman.ie/local-notes/ding ... 75604.html

[John]

6 Distilleries and 1 new Brewery surely Leo Or are there definite plans to distil spirits also at the Brewery? Why is the Brewery name in English and the Distillery name in Irish by the way, just curious.

Co-incidentally, I remember having a conversation with someone at WhiskeyLive about the possibility of potentially another new distillery to be opened in the North West. Anyone care to corroborate?!

[TheWhiskeyBro]

In relation to 'The Dingle Brewery' the article suggests that they will also distil a spirit, whether it is true or not I don't know. If true it can be called both a brewery and a distillery, not unusual in the micro-distilling sector. It is listed in english
www.dinglebrewingcompany.com twitter.com/#!/dinglebrewingco www.facebook.com/dinglebrewingco?sk

The Dingle Distillery is a separate project by the Porterhouse Group and a lot of progress is being made behind the scenes.

www.thedinglewhiskeydistillery.ie

As you know Dingle is part of the Gaeltacht and frequently used both English & Irish versions of names/places/businesses etc.

[Fionnán]

Any word on William Grant's talk about a Tullamore Dew distillery (was it in Cashel?) being developed any time soon?

[TheWhiskeyBro]

They remain tight lipped on their plans, but we remain hopeful.

[John]

Cheers Leo
For some reason I thought that the two Dingle operations were the projects of the same investors? So they are two seperate entities! Wow, Dingle won't know what hit it

[IainB]

Does anyone know where the Knockeen Hills "Poteen" is distilled - I ask as I think I read somewhere they were distilled in Waterford. I'd imagine they're grain neutral column distilled spirits but if this is the case and they're not made in an existing whiskey distillery then is it not at least possible that there is another distillery that could produce a grain whiskey?

[DavidH]

And there is Bunratty poteen which is made in a pot still. These aren't neutral spirits - they have lots of flavour and that great new make aroma.

[IainB]

And there is Bunratty poteen which is made in a pot still. These aren't neutral spirits - they have lots of flavour and that great new make aroma.

I haven't tried them but the knockeen label I was looking at online said grain neutral. I really must try one at some stage, maybe age it a bit in one of my little barrels. I don't know what component ingredients are used in making them but assuming grain is involved and a still of some sort it would seem to me that, unless these are distilled in Midleton or Cooley then there is another distillery or two that could make whiskey.

[IainB]

Now what market do you think this might be aimed at?

http://homepage.eircom.net/~bunrattywin ... tcheen.htm

[TheWhiskeyBro]

This thread has been hijacked by white spirit proponents, the brown spirit brigade will have to rise up and defeat them

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

This thread has been hijacked by white spirit proponents, the brown spirit brigade will have to rise up and defeat them

"Down With this sort of thing"

[IainB]

Apologies guys - though what I'm really trying to do is see can we turn a white spirits distillery into a whiskey distillery - making 8 by 2013! So does anyone know where and how these are distilled?

Here's what I'm thining - if they were grain only spirits without anything added but weren't produced in Midleton or Cooley, would it be possible to get them to fill a cask, even say a quarter cask? By any definition I know we would then have a single grain whiskey after 3 years which wasn't from one of the recognised whiskey distilleries.

[DavidH]

I asked the Bunratty guy once. He said his poteen was made just like I thought it was made (that's how he put it), namely in a pot. And it has that glorious fruity ester smell of new make pot still spirit, so I believe it. It's a mix of grains too, as far as I recall, ie not all barley. So that would make a pot still whiskey, if matured.

I looked at my Knockeen Hills bottle. It just says it's triple distilled from grain. I'm still leaning towards a pot still here too.

[IainB]

So the question is where? There must be some reason why these guys don't cask some given the rising interest in whiskey.

Of course thye could be made under licence in Midleton given that gin and vodka are also made there - that's the bit we tend to forget when we talk about midleton.

[pogriallais]

If one reads the label on the Bunratty Potcheen bottle is states - 'Grain Neutral Spirits'. I believe it also states that it is flavoured. My understanding of grain neutral spirits is that it is commercially produced in a column still. It can be bought by the barrel for much cheaper than it is to produce a batch of spirit in a pot still. Some small distilleries in the US that are starting up buy these grain neutral spirits, may add some flavouring, label the bottle their own and sell them. It is very much frowned upon as you're not actually distilling anything if using GNS. It does get cash flowing in the begining as it takes years to see any return on investment on whiskey. Could anyone else confirm that Bunratty Potcheen uses flavoured GNS? Bunratty is a lot cheaper than the Knockeen hills so this may also explain the price discrepancy.