Distillery project ‘all going to plan’

PLANS for the construction of a €10 million craft distillery and visitor centre at Powerscourt Estate in Enniskerry are ‘going well’ with construction work expected to commence at the end of the summer.

Local entrepreneur Gerry Ginty, along with Ashley Gardiner, are the co-founders of the new venture and according to Mr Ginty they are ‘very happy’ with the progress being made to date on the Powerscourt Distillery.

‘We hope to start building by the end of the summer and it’s all going to plan. We are fairly happy with where we are at the moment,’ Mr Ginty told the Wicklow People.

An old mill house on the estate is being converted to house the distillery, which will use mineral water from Powerscourt Estate’s well with the intention of creating a portfolio of whiskeys.

It is hoped 30 jobs will be created in the construction phase and between 16 to 18 jobs once the business is fully operational.

At full production, the distillery will have the potential to produce more than one million bottles of whiskey every year with the first batch of whiskey set to be distilled early next year and then placed in oak casks to mature. It takes three years and a day for whiskey to mature, according to Mr Ginty.

‘ The whiskey will be made using the traditional pot still techniques and we will be creating the whiskey from scratch using local barley and local water. We will be distilling and maturing the whiskey here creating a Wicklow whiskey.’

The distillery, which is a joint venture with Powerscourt Estate is supported by an agreement with the Slazenger family to locate the distillery on the estate, and will create a portfolio of unique whiskeys that will stand out in the rapidly growing Irish whiskey market and it is hoped the distillery will open next summer.