William Grant & Sons opens €35m Tullamore Distillery Tullamore D.E.W celebrates true ‘Parting Glass’ moment as whiskey production returns home after 60 years 17th September 2014: Today, William Grant & Sons Ltd., the independent family owned distiller and owner of Tullamore D.E.W. Irish Whiskey, officially opened its new €35 million state-of-the-art whiskey distillery in Tullamore, Co Offaly, Ireland. After two years of construction, Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food, the Marine & Defence, Simon Coveney T.D. officially opened the new distillery by turning on the Spirit Safe to let the first spirit flow from the newly installed stills. This milestone marked the return of whiskey production to Tullamore 60 years after the original distillery closed its doors. The Tullamore Distillery is the first new distillery to be constructed on a greenfield site in Ireland in over 100 years and is one of the most significant investments to date in the resurgent Irish whiskey sector. It is also one of the largest projects undertaken by William Grant & Sons. Located on a 58 acre site in Clonminch on the outskirts of Tullamore, the Distillery draws on the finest natural spring water from the Slieve Bloom Mountains. Tullamore Distillery will be capable of producing the equivalent of 1.5 million cases of Tullamore D.E.W. annually. The distillery was built to meet the growing international demand for Tullamore D.E.W., which is now the second largest Irish whiskey in the world. Commenting at the official opening ceremony Stella David, Chief Executive of William Grant & Sons Ltd said, “We are delighted to celebrate the opening of Tullamore Distillery. This new facility will secure our future production demands for the rest of the century as Irish whiskey embarks on its most exciting chapter yet. Distilling began in Tullamore 185 years ago and this is a significant day for both the town and Tullamore D.E.W. as the opportunities now open to the category are unprecedented. We are committed to Tullamore D.E.W. and are focused on building the brand and investing for the long-term. ” Minister for Agriculture, Food & the Marine Simon Coveney said “Irish Whiskey is a star of the Irish food and drink industry and the fastest growing spirit on world markets. Today I am again impressed by the confidence of the companies investing €1 billion in Irish whiskey over a period of ten years. I was delighted to turn the sod on the site of this distillery in historic Tullamore and today, the first liquid gold flows into casks for skilful maturation with the promise of a premium product and great visitor experiences. This is something special. Government is committed to protecting the reputation and identity of Irish Whiskey, produced by an industry committed to working together to further expand exports of a sustainable, quality, uniquely Irish product." The Tullamore Distillery combines William Grant and Sons’ 127 years of distilling knowledge and expertise with world leading innovation and technology. Production operations are headed at the facility by Process Leader, Denise Devenny. 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. Another special guest at the opening was Tom McCabe (84) a former employee of the original distillery who now lives in New Jersey. Tom spent three years working as a Distiller in the distillery on Bury Quay in Tullamore town and was today reunited with his brother Fergal and sister Una, the first time all three siblings had been together in Tullamore since 1952. At the event Tom traded stories and memories with another former distillery worker and Tullamore resident, Paddy Lowbridge (90). Caspar MacRae, Global Brand Director, Tullamore D.E.W. also commented, “Tullamore D.E.W.’s success is built on its resilience, optimism and progress - attributes that have certainly led us to the opening of Tullamore Distillery today. In many ways this is a 'Parting Glass’ moment for the brand as we toast achievements of the past and raise a glass to an exciting new chapter in our future. This development has been met with great anticipation in our markets around the world - with consumers in Central Europe, the Nordics, North America and emerging markets like South Africa and Russia keenly following the success of Tullamore D.E.W. and Irish whiskey." The construction project was led by William Grant & Sons’ Head Engineer, John Stevenson, with more than 1,200 specialist distillery engineers and construction workers spending a combined 475,000 working days to complete the build on-schedule and on-budget. William Grant & Sons is an important employer in the Tullamore area with people employed locally between the distillery and the Tullamore D.E.W. Visitor Centre while William Grant & Sons currently employs over 90 people in Ireland – in Tullamore, Clonmel and Dublin. ENDS For further information and images, please contact: Gillian Herlihy, Gibney Communications [email protected] +353 1 661 0402 / +353 86 022 2990 2 OR Cliodhna Lamont, Global Brand Communications Manager, Tullamore D.E.W. [email protected] +353 87 9250874 Notes to editor: For full press materials, video content, images & fact sheets, please visit: http://grants.releasd.com/f9bb About Tullamore D.E.W.: Tullamore D.E.W. is the world’s second largest Irish whiskey brand and has seen global sales double to more than 850,000 (9L) cases since 2005. Known the world over for its smooth flavour, Tullamore D.E.W. Irish whiskey is triple distilled and a blend of a combination of all three types of Irish whiskey – grain, malt & pot still. The sweet softness of grain whiskey, soft spice from the pot still and fruitiness of the malt create marks out Tullamore D.E.W. from all other Irish whiskeys. Tullamore D.E.W.'s award-winning range includes Tullamore D.E.W. Original, Tullamore D.E.W. Phoenix, Tullamore D.E.W. 12 Year Old Special Reserve and Tullamore D.E.W. 10 Year Old Single Malt. To celebrate the opening of its new Tullamore Distillery, Tullamore D.E.W. released 2014 bottle of Tullamore D.E.W. Celebratory Phoenix Single Batch. This very limited release is available through a selection of exclusive Irish outlets. For more information on the brand, please go to: www.tullamoredew.com Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tullamoredew About Tullamore: Tullamore is a medium sized town in County Offaly, in the Irish midlands with a population of 15,000 and is approximately 100km west of Dublin. Slieve Bloom, to the north is believed to be one of Europe's oldest mountain ranges, and to the south is Lough Boora, a vast nature reserve. The town is connected to Dublin by the Grand Canal, an old merchant waterway linking the capital city with the mighty River Shannon in the West of Ireland. Tullamore D.E.W. is the town's most famous export, dating back to 1829. Despite the original distillery's closure in 1954 the town has maintained a proud association with Tullamore D.E.W. and the Tullamore D.E.W. Visitor Centre, opened in 2012, has become a popular tourist attraction. 3 About Irish whiskey: Today Irish whiskey is the fastest growing sector in the spirits category, as a new generation of consumers discover its smooth taste and accessible character. The category has had a tumultuous past, from its heyday in the early 20th century when it was in huge global demand to being severely crippled first by Prohibition and then by Irish political instability and the Economic War with Britain. In comparison Scotch, which was not handicapped by the same challenging trade environment, went from strength to strength and became the default import whisky of choice in large markets such as in North America and the UK. Irish whiskey was all but wiped out in the US and in fact may have been saved because of its use in Irish coffee, which become very popular on the West Coast. As the entire Irish whiskey production sector was rationalised Tullamore D.E.W. went through a number of different ownerships. It became part of the William Grant & Sons family in 2010. About William Grant & Sons: William Grant & Sons Holdings Ltd is an independent family-owned distiller and was founded by William Grant in 1887. Today the company owns some of the world’s leading brands of Scotch whisky, including the world’s most awarded single malt Glenfiddich®, The Balvenie® range of handcrafted single malts and the world’s third largest blended Scotch, Grant’s®, as well as other iconic spirits brands such as Hendrick’s® gin, Sailor Jerry® spiced rum and Tullamore D.E.W.® Irish whiskey For more information on the company, please visit www.williamgrant.com 4 .