Irish Distillers has today announced plans for a €10.5 million investment at Midleton Distillery, Cork, which will see the company increase its single pot still Irish whiskey production capacity by over 30 per cent.
The investment saw three new copper pot stills installed at Midleton Distillery, weighing a combined 24 tonnes with each having a capacity of over 75,000 litres and to be operational by June 2017.
Irish whiskey is the fastest growing premium spirit globally and since 2012 Irish Distillers has invested €120 million in the Midleton Distillery, €20 million at its Fox and Geese bottling facility in Dublin and is currently investing €100 million at its Dungourney maturation site. In August 2016, the company also announced an €11 million redevelopment project at the Old Jameson Distillery in Smithfield, Dublin.
Commenting on the latest investment, Jean-Christophe Coutures, chairman and CEO of Irish Distillers said: "Irish whiskey continues to enjoy phenomenal global growth, led by Jameson with sales of 5.7 million cases in 2016. Irish Distillers has been driving the growth of the category since 1988, a commitment further underpinned by investments of over €230 million since 2012. With this additional investment of over €10 million at Midleton Distillery, the home of Irish whiskey, we will ensure that we are positioned to meet growing global demand and support the growth of Irish whiskey in the international spirits category.
“We are seeing growth accelerating across Jameson and the wider single pot still Irish whiskey range, such as Redbreast and Green Spot, and we will continue to direct our focus for growth here. With our increased production capacity, we are confident that the category will hit the ambitious targets set by the Irish Whiskey Association - increasing exports to 12 million cases by 2020 and 24 million cases by 2030."
Paul Wickham, general manager of Midleton Distillery added: "Single pot still Irish whiskey is the quintessential style of Irish whiskey which Irish Distillers saved from virtual extinction in the mid-1900s. Since then we have been investing to protect this traditional Irish whiskey style and today's announcement will help us grow brands such as Redbreast and Green Spot Irish whiskey even further over the next 30 years and beyond."
