New Walsh Whiskey Distillery at Dunleckney, Carlow.

Amber Beverage Group set to invest €35m in this new Irish whiskey distillery; Walsh Whiskey Distillery at Dunleckney will become the brand home for Writers’ Tears and The Irishman super-premium whiskeys.

The new distillery will be one of the largest in the Irish whiskey category with the aim of building capacity for producing 4 million LPAs annually, while laying down and building reserves for the future.

Aerial view of the site location of ABG’s planned Walsh Whiskey Distillery

Making the announcement, Jekaterina Stuge, CEO Of Amber Beverage Group, said: “This is ABG’s second major investment in the fast-growing Irish whiskey category following our acquisition of Walsh Whiskey and its super-premium Irish whiskey brands, Writers’ Tears and The Irishman, in 2021. In keeping with our growth ambitions as a rapidly growing global spirits company, once commissioned our distillery will enable ABG to become one of the major global producers of Irish whiskey and to leverage the exceptional growth the category is predicted to continue to experience for the foreseeable future. We will preserve the heritage of the historic site at Dunleckney, while introducing high-end production capabilities, married with a modern design to excite the senses of visitors to what will become a leading distillery and brand home for our whiskeys.”

Bernard Walsh, Founder and Managing Director of Walsh Whiskey, said: “Located in the heart of Ireland’s barley growing region, with its own supply of natural water, the 18th century riverside location of Dunleckney has been a special location for producing drink and food since the 1700s. Milled corn, beer, and malted grain have all been produced at this site, so whiskey is a natural progression. Our immediate focus will be on producing pot still and single malt whiskeys in traditional copper pots.” The former maltings at Dunleckney is one of the finest examples of industrial heritage in Ireland’s south- east region. The site of a corn mill in the 1700s, and a water-powered brewery in the early 1800s, it was redeveloped as malthouses in the 1860s. The 7-acre riverside Dunleckney site mainly comprises granite malthouses between three and five storeys high, all built around a central courtyard.