| Country | ireland |
| Region | County Cork |
| Established | 1825 |
| Owner | Irish Distillers (Pernod Ricard) |
| Type | Irish pot still whiskey distillery |
| Number of stills | Historically 3 pot stills (1 x 31,618 gallons, 2 x 10,000 gallons) plus a Coffey still |
| Visitor center | Yes |
| Status | Closed |
| Phone | n/a |
Old Midleton Distillery is an Irish whiskey distillery located in Midleton, County Cork, Ireland. It was founded in 1825 and closed in 1975, when production moved next door to the purpose-built New Midleton Distillery. It once housed the largest pot still ever built and today survives as the Jameson Experience visitor centre.
The distillery was established on 20 December 1825 by three brothers, James, Daniel and Jeremiah Murphy, who bought a 15-acre riverside site from Lord Midleton for £4,000. The site had previously been a woollen mill (built 1796) and briefly a military barracks, and its existing buildings and water power made it well suited for conversion to distilling once the 1823 Excise Act made large-scale legal distillation profitable. The Murphys invested heavily, installing a large water wheel (rebuilt in iron in 1852 and still standing today) and, most famously, a 31,618-gallon copper pot still — the largest ever constructed, so large that the distillery building had to be erected around it. Output grew rapidly, from around 188,000 proof gallons in 1827 to roughly 400,000 proof gallons a year by the 1830s. When the writer Alfred Barnard visited in 1886, Midleton was running three pot stills (the giant still plus two 10,000-gallon stills) alongside a Coffey still, producing over a million gallons annually, making it one of the largest distilleries in the world at the time.
Falling demand from the temperance movement, the Great Famine, and later Prohibition in the United States, the Anglo-Irish trade war, and competition from blended Scotch whisky devastated the Irish whiskey trade generally. Midleton weathered this partly through consolidation: in 1867 it helped form the Cork Distilleries Company (CDC) with several neighbouring Cork distilleries, joining the group itself in 1868. In 1966, CDC merged with John Jameson & Son and John Powers & Son to form Irish Distillers, which built a new, modern distillery immediately alongside the old one.
Production at Old Midleton ceased in July 1975, with distilling continuing the very next day at the adjacent New Midleton Distillery, which now produces Jameson, Powers, Paddy, Redbreast and other Irish Distillers brands. The old site lay dormant until it was restored and reopened in 1992 as the Jameson Experience, a museum, visitor centre and gift shop built around its original stills, warehouses and the still-functioning 1852 water wheel; it now draws well over 100,000 visitors a year. Because the site never operated under Irish Distillers' modern bottling programme, genuine whiskey distilled at Old Midleton before 1975 is scarce and highly sought after by collectors, with old Jameson and Paddy bottlings from this era commanding significant premiums.
Old Midleton distillery is located at Old Distillery Walk, Midleton, County Cork, Ireland.
Old Midleton distillery was founded in 1825.
Old Midleton distillery is owned by Irish Distillers (Pernod Ricard).
Old Midleton distillery is from County Cork, ireland.
Yes, Old Midleton distillery welcomes visitors.
You can buy Old Midleton whisky at Glenbotal.co.uk. We currently stock a selection with free UK delivery on orders over £99.
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About Glenbotal
The idea of Glenbotal came to us naturaly: as whisky lovers, we were always on the lookout for new experiences in the whisky world. That’s why we created Glenbotal and became our very own first customers. We buy unique and hard to find spirits from auctions, ballots, and private collections. Then, we share them with a small circle of friends and people who can appreciate a good dram.