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The inaugural cask at Slane Distillery has been filled with malt whiskey using barley harvested on the Slane Castle estate in the Boyne Valley, Co Meath.
The distillery has capacity to produce 600,000 cases and is the first to be built by Brown-Forman outside of the United States.
The Conyngham family collaborated with Brown-Forman and started building the new distillery in 2015.
Milestone
“This is an important milestone for any new distillery, but one we are especially grateful for at Slane Distillery,” said Alan Buckley, assistant manager of Slane Distillery at Brown-Forman.
“It’s rare that you get to build a distillery from the ground up, particularly one on grounds as historic at the Slane Castle estate. That’s part of what makes this first barrel that much more special.”
Brown-Forman invested €44m in the construction. It is built on the grounds of the 250 year old gothic farm buildings of the castle.
“This is a very special occasion for my family. We could not have accomplished this much in such a short space of time without the partnership, knowledge and expertise of Brown-Forman, the talented production team at Slane Distillery and the support of the local community in Slane,” Alex Conyngham, Slane Irish Whiskey co-founder, said.
“I am honoured to play a part in bringing whiskey production back to the Boyne Valley.”
Sustainability
In terms of sustainability, the new business uses spent grain used to feed local cattle, a fish ladder to assist salmon migrating up the River Boyne, an anaerobic digester, a rainwater collection and recycling programme and the creation of thermal energy on site which will, in turn, be used to part-power the whiskey stills.
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