The opening of the new facility marks the return to distilling in the Old Midleton buildings for the first time since 1975. An innovative array of whiskeys, featuring a mix of cereals, will be distilled using a manual operation during the first year, while in phase two a microbrewery will be introduced that will enable the microdistillery to craft whiskeys using a wider range of cereals and yeast strains.
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| Irish Distillers CEO Anna Malmkake and Midleton Microdistillery Distiller Karen Cotter |
The first Distiller of the new microdistillery at Midleton has been announced as Karen Cotter, one of eight alumni of the Jameson Graduate Distiller Programme and the only female distiller in Ireland. Karen joined Irish Distillers in 2012 and has been mentored by Midleton Master Distiller, Brian Nation.
Commenting on the news, Anna Malmhake, Chairman and CEO of Irish Distillers, said: “As Jameson continues to underpin the success of the Irish whiskey category, we are looking at new ways of building on our tradition while also forging the future of Irish whiskey. We are delighted with the opening of the Midleton microdistillery which, when fully operational, will produce 400 casks of Irish whiskey per annum, from brewing through to maturation. These will be innovative, small batch expressions that will play a key role in the development of the category.”
She went on to say: “Our Archivist recently uncovered a notebook personally used by John Jameson II in 1826 which he used to take note of special recipes and ingredient mixes used by the original Jameson distillers. The microdistillery will enable us to bring these old Irish whiskeys back to life in the modern era, as well as experiment and innovate with new ingredients mixes.”
The micro distillery will also be a key feature of the Jameson Experience Midleton, which currently welcomes over 410,000 visitors per year.
Irish Distillers is the largest whiskey producer in Ireland and the company behind such brands as Jameson, Powers, Redbreast, Green Spot and Midleton Very Rare.
Posted by Steve Rush