The proposed site of a new Walsh Whiskey Distillery in Dunleckney, Co. Carlow, Ireland.
Ireland’s Walsh Whiskey looks to be getting a new home, as owner Amber Beverage Group (ABG) has unveiled plans to invest $37 million to build a distillery that’s slated to open by 2026. The facility will be focused on laying down stocks for Walsh brands Writers’ Tears and The Irishman, which are currently sourced from other Irish distilleries.
The planning application for the project has yet to be submitted, but if approved, ABG will build a single malt and single pot still distillery at Dunleckney, Co. Carlow, about an hour south of Dublin. It will have an annual capacity of 4 million liters of pure alcohol and will be set on a 7-acre site alongside River Barrow, inside a former 18th-century corn mill and malthouse complex.
Interestingly, the new place will be about two miles upstream and on the opposite river bank from Royal Oak Distillery, the former home of Walsh Whiskey, which Walsh left behind in 2109 after a disagreement with then-partner Illva Saronno.
Bernard Walsh and his wife Rosemary opened Walsh Distillery on the Royal Oak Estate, Co. Carlow in 2016 with Illva Saronno, the Italian drinks firm best known for its Tia Maria and Disaronno liqueurs. But the partnership turned sour less than three years later as the two sides couldn’t agree on future plans. Walsh wanted to continue making high-end whiskeys while Illva Saronno favored developing affordable, accessible bottlings aimed at newer drinkers. They parted ways in 2019, in a divorce that left Illva Saronno with full control of the distillery and Walsh with ownership of his whiskey brands. The former Walsh Distillery was renamed Royal Oak Distillery, and it became the home of The Busker Irish whiskey.
ABG, a global producer and distributor, acquired Walsh Whiskey Company in 2021, and Walsh stayed on as managing director to oversee the development of the company’s whiskeys. The Walsh releases have scored quite well in the Whisky Advocate buying guide over the years, with the 2023 Vintage of The Irishman Cask Strength receiving 93 points, Writers’ Tears Single Pot Still earning 92 points, and the 2023 release of Writers’ Tears Cask Strength scoring 91 points.
The new distillery will be considerably larger than Royal Oak, which was built to produce 2.5 million liters of pure alcohol per year. That’s presumably an indication of the continued positive outlook for Irish whiskey on world markets.
