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THE ONLY INDEPENDENT whiskey distillery in Ireland has been bought out by a US spirits giant for almost €73million.
Cooley Distillery, based on the Cooley peninsula near Carlingford, Co Louth, announced yesterday that it had agreed a deal worth $95million with Beam Inc, based in Illinois.
Beam produces a number of well-known spirit brands including Jim Beam bourbon, Courvoisier cognac, Teacher’s Scotch whisky and Sauza tequila.
Cooley is best known for its Kilbeggan, Connemara, Tyrconnell and Greenore whiskeys. In a statement, Beam president Matt Shattock said Irish whiskey was one of the “highest growth categories” in the drinks industry.
The Carlingford distillery currently produces 250,000 cases of whiskey every year.
Shattock said Beam were “eager to work with the Cooley team, led by the Teeling family, who have built Cooley with so much pride and passion, to capitalize on the opportunities that lie ahead.”
John Teeling, founder of the Cooley distillery, said: “The renaissance in Irish whiskey, most evident in the United States, is now spreading across the world. Through Beam, our brands, built on quality, will be introduced to a host of new consumers.”
The Cooley distillery hit headlines earlier this year when €270,000 worth of their whiskey was stolen.
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Delighted for John Teeling and the other 290 people who invested (a long time ago) in this business creating employment.They are all entitled to their payback. I do understand its a sad day that its the last independent distillery however hopefully this move protects jobs into the future. If we had more serial entrepreneurs like John Teeling, then maybe we would get out of this mess sooner.
Sad day.
Well that’s just the natural market cycle in some ways it’s good as small brewers are taking shape micro form so for an independent whiskey company to be bought will help it as it will help the Irish export market.. Possibly the Chinese will make some orders !
So we don’t have any Irish owned distilleries anymore. Shame :(
New independent distillery opening in Dingle, Kerry very soon as far as I know. Irish whiskey can only be made in Ireland as far as I know so I welcome the Beam move, Peter Lyon is spot on in his post.
Unfortunately I didn’t own it.
Sad day indeed
Wouldn’t give Jim Beam to my worst enemy, disgusting rotgut, and that’s where our last independent distillery is gone. Sad news for Irish craft. In saying that, it’s always better then people losing their jobs.
Great Day for the family and congrats. Great example of Irish business succeeding against the big guys globally. It is possible for our people to succeed.
Bring on the red thumbs arrows…..
I think people who press them are very silly…
Don’t anyone press mine or else……!!!
Add something valuable to the debate… Nobody logged on to hear your product plugs…
A long time coming and worth the wait..good fortune to the investors for patience….money back time.
I hope mr telling can now invest in irish worthwhile energy projects that need the benefit of his expertise….
Ahem Ahem…
Eggfuel asking….!!
I did a whiskey tasting evening once and they said that up until the 20s irish whiskey was always a premium product across the globe. It outsold Scotch. Basically until we took over production and distribution in 22-23. It’s a real pity there are no more Irish owned distillers
Four reasons why Scottish Whisky surpassed Irish Whiskey in production.
Scottish use of coffee stills for production.
Prohibition in the USA.
Temperance movement in Ireland.
Trade war between the British Eimpire and the Free State.
IMHO every County in Ireland should have a distillery. Needs a big investment, years for a return on profit.
Irish SPS is on a par with Scotish single malts. SPS is the future of Irish whiskey IMHO.
Anyone looking for some further insights from John on this should check out the video interview that John did yesterday with his local community website in Clontarf.
He explains the background to setting up Cooley and why he thinks Irish whiskey is the best whiskey in the world. Well worth a look.
http://www.clontarf.ie/news/interview-with-john-teeling-of-cooley-distillery
Connemara Single Malt – the best in the market. Good day for the peninsula.
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