Cahersiveen distillery a step closer to fruition: KCC grants planning

THE first batch of gin from a distillery planned for Cahersiveen will hopefully be ready by Easter 2019. That’s according to the backers behind the venture that will also include a new visitor centre, a key component of the multi-million euro development

The new Skellig Six18 distillery project was granted planning permission by Kerry County Council in recent weeks, subject to an appeal.

Skellig Six18 is a €10m project that it is hoped will create more than 50 jobs for the area –

Skellig Distillers Ltd applied for planning earlier this year for a micro brewery and visitor centre that will produce gin and whiskey in the former Wilson Sock factory in Cahersiveen.

The factory closed in 2003 with a huge loss of jobs for the town.

Now, the building is to be renovated to build what project backers say will be a perfect location for a distillery and visitor centre, overlooking the Atlantic ocean.

The distillery will produce 500,000 litres of alcohol per annum.

A key component is the visitor centre which, according to planning documents, could attract 120,000 visitors by 2025. Last weekend some of the team behind the project, June O’Connell and Patrick Sugrue, shared their vision for the project with the public in Teach Skellig Six18, a pop-up information space that has opened on Main Street, Cahersiveen.

The idea is to provide the public with information on the project, and the pop-up will open on various days throughout Christmas as well.

It is located in the former Teach Culainn Bar and Restaurant.

The branding, which was created by Trinity Brand Group between their Dublin and San Francisco offices, is displayed on the wall. It is based on the 618 steps of Skellig Michael.

In early 2019, when work will potentially begin on the Cahersiveen project, there will also be a huge amount of work taking place in tandem in Italy, where the order for the distillery plant equipment is going into production – including the three large copper pot stills in which the Skellig Six18 whiskey will be distilled in.

While gin will be on sale from the opening, Skellig Six18 Irish whiskey will not be ready for a number of years. A whiskey cask sale programme will begin in early spring 2019, when they will sell some casks of whiskey from the new distillery to private individuals.

However, like all distilleries of this size, there is a significant lead time – almost two years – before the distillery is commissioned. The whiskey must remain in a wooden cask for a minimum of three further years before becoming a full Irish whiskey.

“This is something you’d expect to see in Dublin, London, San Francisco, not on Main Street, Cahersiveen,” said June.

“This is a very exciting and innovative project which will be phased in over the next number of years. It will also be one of the top 10 distilleries in Ireland capacity wise when completed, ” she added.