First sod turned on new distillery

The first sod of the new Tullamore DEW distillery in Clonminch has been turned, paving the way towards some 200 jobs that will be created during the project's construction phase.

The first sod of the €35m project by William Grant and Sons was turned by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Simon Coveney at 2pm. Speaking at the ceremony, the Minister described Tullamore DEW whiskey as “one of the strongest and most distinctive products in the world”.

The new pot still and malt whiskey distillery sits on a 58 acre site. It’s due to open in autumn 2014, which means whiskey production will be brought back to Tullamor exactly 60 years after the original distillery closed in the town in 1954.

The state-of-the-art distillery will meet the long-term production demands for Tullamore DEW, which is currently the world’s second largest Irish whiskey brand and is growing by more than 20% each year.

For a full report see tomorrow's Offaly Independent.