Irish whiskey is the fastest-growing sector in the spirits category as a new generation of consumers discovers its smooth taste.

Tullamore Dew has opened a state-of-the-art whiskey distillery in Tullamore, at a cost of €35m, to capitalise on this growth.

The opening of the new facility marks the return of whiskey production to Tullamore 60 years after the original distillery closed its doors.

Whiskey had been manufactured in Midleton by Irish Distillers, which is owned by Pernod Ricard, the owners of Jameson Whiskey up to now.

The Tullamore distillery is the first distillery to be constructed on a greenfield site in Ireland in over 100 years and will be capable of producing the equivalent of 1.5 million cases of Tullamore Dew annually.

The distillery features four hand-crafted copper stills, designed to resemble the original stills from the old Tullamore distillery, six brew house fermenters, each with a 34,000-litre capacity, and warehouse storage for 100,000 casks.

Tullamore Dew is now the second-largest Irish whiskey in the world after Jameson. Since 2005, sales of Tullamore Dew have more than doubled, with 850,000 cases sold.

In 2010, Tullamore Dew was acquired by William Grant & Sons, the company behind brands such as Glenfiddich Scottish whiskey and Hendricks’ Gin. Irish Distillers invested €200m at Middleton in the past number of years.