In fine Spirits: The creation of Midleton Distillery and the rise of Irish whiskey

One man’s brave gamble 40 years ago helped revive the ailing fortunes of Irish whiskey, writes Joe McNamee

Barry Crockett in the Distillery Cottage which was his old family home in Midleton, Co Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan

In 1984 the price of a pint of plain was IR£1.16, the average weekly wage was IR£163, and the country was marooned in the economic doldrums with chronic high unemployment especially bad in Cork. In 1983, Dunlop’s closed for good; a year later, Ford’s followed. There were myriad other closures of smaller businesses but losing two of the city’s most iconic employers added an almost apocalyptic finality to Leeside’s dire situation.

Then, east of the city, in the now world-renowned Midleton Distillery, Irish Distillers launched the very first Midleton Very Rare (MVR) whiskey, retailing at IR£40 a bottle — public reaction combined equal parts disbelief and outrage. It was as if Marie Antoinette herself had decided to get into the whiskey game.