Tullamore Distillery — County Offaly Single Malt Whisky

Tullamore Distillery (Tullamore D.E.W.) is an Irish whiskey distillery located in Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland. The current production distillery was founded in 2014 and is owned by William Grant & Sons, though the Tullamore D.E.W. brand traces its roots back to a distillery first established in the town in 1829. It is one of the best-selling Irish whiskey brands in the world, and its modern "grain to glass" facility mills, mashes, ferments, distills, matures and bottles whiskey entirely on site.

History

Whiskey production in Tullamore began in 1829, when a distillery was founded in the town by Michael Molloy. The business later passed to Daniel Edmund Williams, whose initials gave the brand its "D.E.W." name after his death in 1921. The original Tullamore distillery closed in 1954, and for the following six decades the Tullamore D.E.W. brand was produced elsewhere, most recently at Midleton Distillery in County Cork, after the whiskey and its trademarks changed hands several times, including a period under John Power & Son.

In 2010, William Grant & Sons, the Scottish family-owned distiller behind Glenfiddich and Balvenie, acquired the Tullamore D.E.W. brand. The company subsequently invested in returning production to Tullamore, opening a new, purpose-built distillery on the outskirts of the town at Clonminch in 2014, bringing whiskey-making back to its home town for the first time in 60 years. A separate visitor centre, housed in a refurbished bonded warehouse from the original 19th-century distillery at Bury Quay in the town centre, had opened in 2012 and continues to welcome visitors for tours and tastings.

The modern distillery produces pot still and malt whiskey on site; grain whiskey components for some blends continue to be sourced from Midleton, as the Clonminch site does not operate a Coffey (column) still of its own. Under William Grant & Sons, Tullamore D.E.W. has grown into the second-largest-selling Irish whiskey brand globally, with sales of well over a million cases a year.

Quick Facts

• Region: County Offaly, Ireland
• Founded: 2014 (current distillery); brand originates from 1829
• Owner: William Grant & Sons
• Status: Active

Core Range

The core Tullamore D.E.W. range includes Tullamore D.E.W. Original (40% ABV), a triple-distilled blend of pot still, malt and grain whiskeys; Tullamore D.E.W. Honey and Café Honey flavoured liqueur expressions; Tullamore D.E.W. XO Caribbean Rum Cask Finish (43% ABV); 12 Year Old Special Reserve (40% ABV); 14 Year Old Single Malt (41.3% ABV); and 18 Year Old Single Malt (41.3% ABV). A visitor-centre exclusive Old Bonded Warehouse Release (46% ABV) is also bottled from the historic Bury Quay warehouse stock.