Brown-Forman has announced the opening of Slane Distillery and Visitor Experience. The company broke ground on this project two years ago.
This brand-new distillery is on the grounds of Slane Castle, located in the middle of a 1,500-acre estate in the heart of Ireland’s Boyne Valley, 30 miles north of Dublin.
All whiskeys will be aged using a triple-cask maturation process of virgin oak, seasoned oak and sherry casks. The process has been applied to whiskey that the distillery sourced while waiting to produce its own stock.
Slane Distillery is the first distillery built by Brown-Forman outside of the U.S. It consists of three hand-beaten copper pot stills and six column stills crafted by McMillan of Scotland.
Irish whiskey remains among the hottest spirits categories globally, growing almost 20% in 2016.
Slane Castle is the home of Henry Conyngham, the eighth Marquess Conyngham, and his son, Alex Conyngham, the Earl of Mount Charles, whose family has been part of the Slane community for generations.
“The Boyne Valley was an important center for Irish whiskey production in the 18th and 19th centuries, when Irish whiskey was the most popular aged spirit category in the world,” says Alex Conyngham, Co-Founder, Slane Irish Whiskey. “With the opening of Slane Distillery, we aim to restore this legacy for future generations by combining the best of traditional Irish whiskey craftsmanship with progressive process innovation.”
The visitor experience offers an “immersive taste of a working distillery,” including malting, fermentation and distillation as well as a tasting area; heritage room featuring information about the distillery site’s history, the Slane Castle Estate, Slane village, the Conyngham family and the Boyne River Valley; retail store offering whiskey memorabilia; casual cafe serving coffee and light bites; and two areas for guests to enjoy cocktails featuring local ingredients: Stalls Bar and Whiskey Lounge.
