Teeling Distillery creates first whiskey spirit

Teeling Whiskey Distillery has fired up its stills and produced Dublin’s first whiskey spirit in 39 years, ahead of its grand opening in May.

Jack Teeling (right) and Stephen Teeling (left) celebrated the creation of Teeling Whiskey Distillery’s first whiskey spirit

In January last year, whisky bottler and blender the Teeling Whisky Company (TWC) revealed plans to move into distilling, building a €10 million distillery and visitors’ centre in Dublin’s Newmarket Square, in The Liberties.

The Teeling Whiskey Distillery will be a revival of the original Teeling family-owned distillery that produced Irish whiskey in the area in the 18th century, and marks the first time a new distillery has been built in Dublin in 125 years.

In December, Teeling celebrated the installation of its three new copper pot stills, capable of producing 500,000 litres of whiskey per year.

The company has now produced its first whiskey spirit, which will be matured for three years before being bottled.

Teeling said the new distillery allows it to have complete control over all aspects of its whiskey production, “from grain to bottle”.

“This is a huge milestone in the story of Teeling Whiskey,” said Jack Teeling, founder and managing director of The Teeling Whiskey Company. “It has taken three years of planning, hard work and significant capital investment, but Teeling Whiskey is finally home.”

“We are proud to be at the forefront of an emerging craft distilling movement and will continue to introduce high quality unique expressions of Irish whiskey to lead the expansion of the market in terms of depth and flavours.”

More than 100 jobs were created during the construction phase of the distillery and 30 permanent jobs are planned following completion.

The Teeling Whiskey Company was founded in 2012 by Jack Teeling, son of Cooley founder John Teeling, and is run in partnership with his brother Stephen.

The Teeling Distillery is due to open its doors to visitors in May this year.

In October last year, the company completed its core range of no-age-statement Irish whiskey with a single malt matured in five different wine casks.