Dublin Liberties Distillery halts production
Quintessential Brands-owned Dublin Liberties Distillery has become the latest Irish whiskey maker to pause production as it “assesses market conditions”.
Joining the likes of Tullamore and Midleton Distillery, Dublin Liberties Distillery (DLD) confirmed in a statement that production would be paused, but it did not provide a date for when operations would resume.
A statement from parent company Quintessential Brands said: “Production at Dublin Liberties Distillery will be temporarily paused from May 2025 as we assess current market conditions.
“We remain fully committed to Irish whiskey production at DLD and have communicated this recent development to employees, suppliers, customers and contractors to support forward planning.
“This pause reflects a wider trend across the whiskey industry. We are engaging constructively with all affected colleagues.
“The office at DLD continues to operate and remains the headquarters for our modern Irish whiskey brands.”
Quintessential Brands confirmed that the visitor centre has also been closed temporarily to the public, but remains open to distributors and clients.
The company confirmed that the production pause would affect some staff but it did not disclose how many jobs would be affected as a consultation process is underway.
The €10 million (US$11.2m) ‘state-of-the-art’ whiskey distillery and visitor experience opened in Dublin’s Liberties district in February 2019.
The facility, which includes a shop and café, has the capacity to produce more than 700,000 litres of whiskey annually.
Its opening marked Ireland’s 22nd operational whiskey distillery and the fourth visitor centre to open in Dublin city centre. Other distilleries in the area include Jameson Bow Street, Teeling, Pearse Lyons, and Diageo-owned Roe & Co (which opened in June 2019).
The Dublin Liberties Distillery produces The Dubliner and The Dublin Liberties Irish whiskey brands.
In 2017, Stock Spirits purchased a 25% stake in Dublin Liberties Distillery in a deal worth up to €18.3m (US$21m).
The site opened during a period of strong growth for Irish whiskey with global sales exceeding 10.5m cases in 2018 – the first time the category had broken the 10m-case barrier since before Prohibition in the US in the 1920s.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic caused a temporary closure for distilleries across the world between 2020 and 2021. Distilleries have also been grappling with rising costs and lower consumer spend linked to inflation in recent years.
Ireland’s whiskey distilleries welcomed more than 800,000 visitors between June 2023 and June 2024, but remained below pre-pandemic levels.
Exports of Irish whiskey rose by 13% in value last year to reach approximately €1 billion (US$1.03bn) with growth across all markets except the UK, according to a Bord Bia report.
Global sales of Irish whiskey exceeded 15m cases in 2024.
Last month, Ireland-based Killarney Brewing & Distilling Company hired an interim examiner to safeguard the business after it experienced a whiskey supply glut and surging costs.
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