‘Welcome home, Tullamore Dew!
Announcement by William Grant and Sons
Development of new, state of the art pot still whiskey and malt whiskey distillery in
Tullamore town. Attached please find: Briefing Note and Press release
dminton
3/28/2012
William Grant & Sons
Briefing to elected members
28th March 2012
In summary:
William Grant & Sons Ltd., the owner of Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey, today announced it will invest in a new, state of the art pot still whiskey and malt
whiskey distillery in Tullamore town, bringing whiskey production back to the town for the first time since the original distillery closed in 1954.
It is currently the second largest Irish whiskey brand in the world, selling more than 8.5m bottles annually. Work on the new distillery, which will utilise the
latest in green technology is scheduled to begin later this year, subject to planning permission, and will support in the region of 100 construction jobs during
the two-year building phase. When combined with the new Tullamore Dew Visitor Centre, scheduled to open in summer 2012, the total number employed
by the firm in the town will rise to around 25.
This development will be an extremely significant project for Tullamore should it go ahead, and would have considerable benefits for business and
employment in the town and County, both in direct job creation and ancillary services whilst raising the brand of ‘Tullamore’ globally through international
marketing campaigns. The projected increased tourist numbers both for the visitor centre in central Tullamore and the Whiskey visitor experience on site in
Clonminch would be hugely significant and push the estimated annual figures well over 40,000.
Historical context
The present Distillery, situated in the heart of the town, on the banks of the River Clodagh, was founded by a famed distiller, Michael Molloy, as far back as
1829 on the site of a previous distillery established prior
to 1790. Soon the good name of his product spread
through the country, and with a bottle of whiskey at the
time costing only a few shillings, a prosperous trade
quickly grew up. On Mr. Molloy’s death in 1857 the
property passed into the hands of his nephew, Bernard
Daly, and in 1887 Mr. Daly’s son, Captain Bernard Daly,
took charge of the Distillery. Captain Daly was a wellknown sporting character in his day. He was Master of
Hounds in the County and an International Polo player. He was a prominent owner of racehorses, one of which won the Irish Oaks
Captain Daly, with his various sporting activities, had little time to devote to the Distillery. Being a good judge of men, he saw at once that Daniel E.
Williams, who had worked in the Distillery since he was fifteen years of age, was the man to be placed in charge. So he promoted him from engineer to
General Manager of the Distillery.
Mr. Daniel Williams was an outstanding personality. Energetic and enterprising, he set out at once to enlarge the premises, and made substantial additions
and improvements to the Distillery and plant. Whiskey stocks were increased, and an extensive trade was built up both in the home and in the various
foreign markets. This remarkable man carried on work in the Distillery for nearly sixty years, and was still active at the time of his death in 1921.
Meanwhile, in 1903, the Distillery had been formed into a Company, as B. Daly & Co., Ltd., portion of the shares being held by Captain Daly and the
remainder by the Williams family. In 1931 Captain Daly resigned as Director of the Board and the Williams family acquired all the Shares in the Company.
Background to current project
Over the past 16 months Offaly County Council has engaged with representatives from William Grant and Sons (WGS) over the proposed distillery, visitor
centre and warehousing development located in Clonminch, Tullamore. The proposed site is divided in ownership between Offaly County Council (24 acres)
and Coillte (33.6 acres). The site is located
adjacent the N52 Tullamore By-Pass and is
currently accessed beside the Clonminch HiTechnology Park. The block of land is in the
Southern Environs Masterplan area of the
Tullamore Town and Environs Development Plan
2010-2016.
In response to a request from William Grant and
Sons, Offaly County Council coordinated an
extremely strong proposal based on the disposal
of lands and the provision of a fully serviced site.
Aerial view of site in Clonminch
Numerous challenges arose during our discussions including access, road infrastructure, and site layout, land costs, raw water supply and other logistical
issues.
To produce the perfect Whiskey, four things are said to be essential - sound
barley, mountain air, pure water, and distilling craft. One of the key
components to our proposal was the innovative solution to the provision of
raw water supply. This solution was based on piping the raw water
14km’s along existing wayleaves to the southern boundary of the
proposed site direct from the Slieve Bloom Mountains. William Grant
and Sons consider the provision of this raw water as an invaluable tool in
their global marketing campaign.
Shot of raw water supply from Slieve Blooms
Visible access to the site from the N52 By-Pass was another essential component of our proposal. WGS deemed access from the By-Pass as
essential to the success of the project and especially for the development of a modern visitor centre. Offaly County Council had fortunately
specified this proposed access in the Tullamore Southern Environs Masterplan Area. In this context discussions were held with the National
Roads Authority (NRA) in relation to constructing an access point off the N52 By-Pass to facilitate the development of the Masterplan area and
allow for the development of the WGS plan. The NRA has approved an access point off the By-Pass due to the scale of the project and the
economic potential of securing a distillery and visitor centre associated with Tullamore Dew.
Future of the development
In order to move the project forward, Offaly County Council has signed a ‘Heads of
Agreement’ with William Grant & Sons in relation the disposal of land, access to
the site and the provision of water to the site. The ‘Heads of Agreement’ is only a
framework document to assist both parties progress with the project. I would also
like to highlight the significant role Coillte has played in assisting to secure this
project.
This heads of agreement has facilitated today’s announcement by William Grant &
Sons.
Finally I would like to clarify that the proposed overall development is subject to
full planning permission and Offaly County Council will be working closely with
William Grant & Sons at the pre-planning stage to ensure a high quality
application is received. It is a very exciting project for the town of Tullamore and
the wider county and we anticipate the economic benefit to employment and
tourism figures to be significant into the future.
END
Vision of the site layout
Press release
Wednesday the 28th of March 2012
‘Welcome home, Tullamore Dew!
William Grant & Sons Ltd., the owner of Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey, today announced it will invest in a new, state of the art pot still whiskey and malt
whiskey distillery in Tullamore town, bringing whiskey production back to the town for the first time since the original distillery closed in 1954. Offaly
County Council and Tullamore Town Council are delighted with the announcement and have ‘welcomed home, its whiskey name-sake Tullamore Dew’.
It is currently the second largest Irish whiskey brand in the world, selling more than 8.5m bottles annually. Work on the new distillery, which will utilise the
latest in green technology is scheduled to begin later this year, subject to planning permission, and will support in the region of 100 construction jobs during
the two-year building phase. When combined with the new Tullamore Dew Visitor Centre, scheduled to open in summer 2012, the total number employed
by the firm in the town will rise to around 25.
Cathaoirleach of Offaly County Council, Cllr. Danny Owens said today ‘this development will be an extremely significant project for Tullamore, and will have
considerable benefits for business and employment in the town and County, both in direct job creation and ancillary services whilst raising the brand of
‘Tullamore’ globally through international marketing campaigns. The projected increased tourist numbers both for the visitor centre in Tullamore town
centre and the Whiskey visitor experience on site in Clonminch would be hugely significant and push the estimated annual visitor figures well over 40,000’.
Cathaoirleach of Tullamore Town Council, Cllr. Sinead Dooley who ‘welcomed the announcement of new jobs to Tullamore both in the construction phase
and also the long term employment opportunities that will arise from the distillery and visitor centre. Cllr. Dooley also noted the tourism opportunities
that would exist for hotel and service providers in the town and county’.
The €35 million investment will meet the long-term production demands for Tullamore Dew, the world’s second largest Irish whiskey brand, which is
currently growing by over 15% annually and is central to the growth plans of William Grant & Sons which bought the brand in July 2010. Manager of Offaly
County Council Pat Gallagher was delighted with today’s announcement and noted that ‘“we are extremely pleased and proud to welcome Tullamore Dew
back home in this manner. William Grant & Sons has invested significantly in the brand over the past 18 months with the refurbishment of the Tullamore
Dew Visitor Centre, and now with the plans to construct the distillery have shown the ultimate commitment to the town and county of Offaly’.
Tullamore Dew is currently one of the fastest growing Irish whiskey brands, almost doubling worldwide sales to almost 700,000 cases since 2005. It is the
largest selling Irish whiskey in many markets in Northern and Central Europe while in several countries, including Denmark, Czech Republic and Latvia it is
the largest selling whisk(e)y of any type. The plan for a new distillery has been prompted by the brand’s rapid growth, driven largely by increased consumer
demand for Irish whiskey in the USA and emerging Irish whiskey markets such as Germany, Sweden and Eastern Europe where the brand already occupies a
leadership position and is outperforming its competitors.
The Tullamore distillery closed in 1954 and the brand went through a number of ownerships as the entire Irish whiskey industry rationalised in subsequent
years. It became part of the William Grant & Sons family in 2010 and is about to come home to Tullamore for the first time in almost 60 years. As the
second largest Irish whiskey brand globally it is enjoying significant growth throughout the world and playing its part in celebrating and renewing this key
aspect of Irish heritage. No doubt the community of Tullamore will welcome the distillery with open arms.
END
For queries relating to the press release please contact David Minton – dminton@offalycoco.ie / 057 93 57456