Whiskey maker signs €25m venture

The husband and wife team behind the ‘Hot Irishman’ range of spirits and whiskeys have formed a €25m joint-venture with Italian drinks giant Illva Saronno.

The deal will see them build a craft whiskey distillery in Carlow.

The newly named Walsh Whiskey Distillery will continue to make the company’s existing brands, but production will be significantly increased, from around 4,000 cases to 400,000.

Production is currently carried out by Irish Distillers. Its brands include the Hot Irishman Irish coffee product, a cream liqueur, and six whiskeys under the Irishman and Writer’s Tears brands.

The company already exports its premium brands to 30 countries, with 70% of sales being generated in the US, Russia, France, Scandinavia, and Germany. As much as 95% of its product is sold outside of Ireland.

The new company will be a 50-50 venture between the Irish management team assembled by Bernard and Rosemary Walsh and the family-owned Illva, which owns international brands such as Tia Maria and the Italian liqueur, Disaronno.

Walsh Whiskey will formally lodge a planning application for a 40-acre plant — which will feature a distillery, maturing warehouses, and visitor centre — at Royal Oak, Co Carlow, early in the new year.

Construction is due to begin next April and it is hoped that the distillery will be fully operational by 2016.

The owners are aiming for 75,000 ‘whiskey tourists’ to pass through the visitor centre by 2021.

The expansion of the company will create 55 permanent and part-time jobs over the next five years, with a separate 40 jobs being created during the construction phase.

The distillery will also have two production lines — allowing the company to produce all four types of Irish whiskey; namely pot, malt, grain, and blended.

As well as growing its own product portfolio, the company will also look at distilling under contract for selected private labels with no means of production.

Speaking yesterday, Illva Saronno chief executive Augusto Reina said the chance to add a quality Irish whiskey brand to his company’s interests was a major attraction.

However, he stressed that the new arrangement is a joint partnership rather than a takeover.