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Diageo’s Roe & Co Irish Whiskey Distillery Set To Open This Month

The ever more heating up world of Irish whiskey is a market in which most, if not all, major spirits companies are making a play for. Diageo is certainly no exception to this, having unveiled back in 2017 an ambitious production plan tied to its then fledgling Roe & Co Irish whiskey label. Now a major part of that undertaking is set take flight with the planned opening later this month of an associated distillery in Dublin, Ireland.

Roe & Co distillery
The new Roe & Co distillery from Diageo (image via Diageo)

The new Roe & Co whiskey making facility, according to those behind it, opens June 21 as a €25 million urban distillery and visitor experience at the former Guinness Power Station at St James’s Gate in Dublin. It has been stated by Diageo that “the new Roe & Co visitor experience will allow guests to explore Roe & Co in its working distillery, with tour groups able to trace the rise and fall of Irish whiskey and celebrate its current revival.” More specifically,

Fun and flavour will be at the centre of every aspect of the Roe & Co experience, which will transport guests on a journey of taste and discovery. The boutique experience, which will have a maximum of 16 guests per tour, will consist of a fully immersive 75-minute tour, with visitors clocking in and out as they commence a ‘shift’ at the Power Station with a time card, a nostalgic nod at the building’s past. Guests will get the chance to observe the operational live distillery and witness the copper pot stills and mash tun from an impressive elevated glass walkway.

Visitors will be invited to explore the unique process that makes Roe & Co a whiskey like no other in Room 106, named after the number of blends it took to perfect the Roe & Co whiskey. The Flavours Workshop will encourage guests to explore the five pillars of flavour; sweet, sour, bitter, salt and umami, and discover their ideal taste profile when it comes to whiskey cocktails. The showstopping Power House Bar, designed by Drinksology, the creative minds behind some of the world’s best bars, will use a wide variety of Irish wildflowers and home-grown ingredients from the distillery’s landscaped garden to create seasonal Roe & Co signature serves created by world class bartenders.

As this is a working distillery, actual whiskey is being produced here already as well by the all-female team of distillers and blenders, led by head distiller Lora Hemy. New whiskey spirit is being pushed through Roe & Co’s three copper stills, which can run both triple and double distillation. It is said the distillery will distill 14,000 litres of whiskey in every run, with an annual maximum capacity of up to 500,000 litres of alcohol.

Roe & Co distillery
The stills at the new Roe & Co distillery (image via Diageo)

“Our master blender, Caroline Martin began the journey of reimagining Irish whiskey (the blend that has been Roe & Co to date), but we didn’t stop the reinvention there,” said Gráinne Wafer, Global Brand Director for Roe & Co at Diageo, in a prepared statement. “We are launching a state-of-the-art distillery and experience like no other, led by our extremely talented distiller, Lora Hemy. This boutique experience, which will have a maximum of 16 guests per tour, will ensure visitors can get up close and personal with our remarkable distillery and whiskey, focusing on the five pillars of flavour.”

With Roe & Co coming online there are now 27 working Irish whiskey distilleries. Diageo’s project, however, has the potential to become one of the biggest, especially in tourism draw, as it sits in the shadow of Irish beer powerhouse Guinness, another Diageo owned property, in what’s said to be the heart of Dublin’s buzzing Liberties district.

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