West Cork Distillers, producer of Kennedy and Drombeg whiskey's, as well as Two Trees vodka and gin, has opened a €2.5 million, 70,000 sq ft facility in Skibbereen, Co Cork.
Speaking to The Sunday Business Post, co-founder John O'Connell said that the distillery has seen sales "increase 20-fold in the last five years" and that the investment has brought most of its warehousing, which had been outsourced before, in-house providing "quite a cost-saving".
West Cork Distillers, which O'Connell founded in 2004 with Denis and Ger McCarthy, currently employs 42 people. The company sells its brand products in 60 countries and recently released three new 12-year-old single malt whiskeys that had been distilled in sherry, port and rum casks.
"Whiskey is the fastest growing spirit category in the world at the moment. It's growing at nearly 20 per cent per annum in the US, which is a big driver. The one unique thing about Irish whiskey is that it can only be made in Ireland. Gin is in right now, but it can be made anywhere. Drinks have their moment in the sun. People say that rum will be next, but for a long-term sustainable business, Irish whiskey is the drink we will concentrate on," commented O'Connell.
"We sell everywhere in the world from Asia to Australia and North America. We supply into nearly every country in Europe and we do a bit of work in the Middle East and in Africa. We appoint a distributor in each country and we ask that they not distribute any other whiskey. We reciprocate by not selling the brand to any other distributor in that country," said O'Connell.
