Belfast Distillery to distil poteen in historic jailhouse
Belfast Distillery Company (BDC) plans to distil its first whiskey in the city's historic former jail within months. The company, based in a wing at the Crumlin Road Gaol, is to launch a new brand, Jailhouse Poteen, a white spirit with 46 per cent ABV rating, as the first stage in its plans to develop new Irish whiskeys particularly for the huge US market.
BDC recently received planning approval from the Northern Ireland Department for the Environment for its £10m proposal to convert one of gaol's three cell blocks into a boutique whiskey distillery. Poteen, a traditional Irish white spirit, has gained EU protected name status.
Michael Morris, BDC commercial director, commenting on the impending launch of Jailhouse Poteen, says: "Work to convert the cell block into a working distillery is now underway and we will shortly by installing three copper pot stills. The stills have been ordered from Forsyth's in Scotland to ensure the quality of the liquid from the very start. Our plan is to start producing Jailhouse Poteen in late autumn or as soon as we commission the stills.
"Poteen is part of Irish folklore and will command considerable interest particularly in the US. We believe it will have great appeal in other global markets especially those with strong links to Ireland.
"PGI status is an important bonus because poteen is now recognised by the EU as a unique Irish product.
"In time, we will also transfer the production of our existing whiskeys, Danny Boy and Titanic, to the distillery. We'll be producing other blended whiskeys and premium malts for export," he adds.
BDC was formed in 2005 Belfast businessman Peter Lavery and has secured significant sales in the US for its existing whiskeys. In May 2012, the company announced that it is to produce premium Irish whiskey in part of the city's historic Crumlin Road Gaol that closed its doors to prisoners in 1996.
It will be the first distillery to be built in Belfast, once the main production centre for Irish whiskey, for 175 years.
The project is being undertaken to exploit the growing international interest in Irish whiskey, now the world's fastest growing brown spirit, and will see the development of a traditional Belfast sipping whiskey that was popular in the late 19th century and the early 1900s particularly in the US.
BDC has a longstanding export and distribution arrangement in the US with Total Beverage Solution based in South Carolina.
The new development will also feature restaurants and a visitor centre charting the city's heritage in distilling Irish whiskey. Visitors will be able to see and experience the whiskey being produced in the old gaol.
The BDC launch team includes experienced whiskey produces such as David Hynes (Whiskey by Design) - formerly managing director of the Cooley Distillery in the Republic of Ireland, now part of Beam, and a world renowned engineering expert in the whiskey industry. He will manage the design, manufacture and installation of the new distillery. Michael Morris will be responsible for sales and marketing of the BDC brands on a global scale.
BDC has also secured a long-term supply agreement with Beam Global that will aid the expected blending capacity of the new distillery.