Great Northern Distillery Now Fully Operational

By Richard Thomas

Fionn, Oisin and Setanta, the three copper stills of Dundalk, Ireland’s Great Northern Distillery, began operating on Thursday, September 24 according to the distillery. These copper pots are slated to produce both peated and unpeated single malt, and pot still whiskey. They join the Coffey Stills that have already been in operation, producing grain whiskey for the last month.

John Teeling, founder of the Cooley Distillery now owned by Beam Suntory, and his partners acquired the former Great Northern Brewery from Diago in September 2013. The plant had previously operated as the producer of Harp Beer, and in its role as a distillery is expected to reach a 50 million bottle capacity. For the time being, the Great Northern Distillery will supply new make whiskeys to other companies and lay in its own stock for future use.