Cooley Distillery is an Irish whiskey distillery on the Cooley Peninsula in

County Louth County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the ...

, Ireland. The distillery was converted in 1987 from an older potato alcohol plant by entrepreneur John Teeling. On 16 December 2011

Beam Inc. Beam Suntory, Inc. is an American-founded, Japanese multinational company that produces alcoholic beverages. It is a subsidiary of Suntory, based in Osaka, Japan. It is the third largest producer of distilled beverages worldwide, behind Diageo ...

announced plans to purchase Cooley for around US$95 million (€71 million); the deal closed a month later, and the distillery now belongs to Beam Suntory since

Suntory (commonly referred to as simply Suntory) is a Japanese multinational brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan, and makes Japanese whisky. Its ...

bought Beam in 2014.

History

John Teeling bought a former State-owned potato schnapps distillery in 1985. In less than two years, Teeling converted the distillery to have two column stills. In 1998, Cooley received a trophy at the

International Wine and Spirit Competition The International Wine & Spirit Competition is an annual wine and spirit competition founded in 1969 by the German/British oenologist Anton Massel. Each year the competition receives entries from over 90 countries worldwide. The awards given by t ...

(IWSC) for outstanding quality, and for earning an impressive reputation over time. Cooley was the first distillery to be awarded the trophy. On 16 December 2011

announced plans to purchase Cooley for around US$95 million (€71 million). The sale closed on 17 January 2012. Beam was then purchased by

Suntory Holdings (commonly referred to as simply Suntory) is a Japanese multinational brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan, and makes Japanese whisky. Its ...

of Osaka, Japan on 30 April 2014, and became its Beam Suntory subsidiary. Since the change of ownership, visitor access to the distillery is limited and public tours are not available. Following the sale, John Teeling went on to found the Great Northern Distillery in the nearest town, Dundalk, and his two younger children, Jack and Stephen, established the Teeling Whiskey Company in Dublin, establishing their brands using stock acquired from Cooley under the terms of the sale agreement with Beam, while building and bringing into production the

Teeling Distillery Teeling Distillery is an Irish whiskey distillery established in Dublin in 2015 by the Teeling Whiskey Company. It is the first new whiskey distillery to have opened in Dublin, once a world whiskey distilling capital, in over 125 years. In fact ...

Product range

Current products

* Kilbeggan – a blended whiskey, Kilbeggan was originally distilled at the Kilbeggan Distillery, which was bought by Cooley in 1987. Best known for its non-age-stated version, in 2007, a 15-year aged version was released. An 18-year aged whiskey has also been released. * Kilbeggan Single Grain – formerly marketed as Greenore, this is a single

grain whiskey Grain whisky normally refers to any whisky made, at least in part, from grains other than malted barley. Frequently used grains include maize, wheat, and rye. Grain whiskies usually contain some malted barley to provide enzymes needed for mashi ...

, made with

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

alone, and aged in

Bourbon Bourbon may refer to: Food and drink * Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash * Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * A beer produced by Bras ...

casks. Kilbeggan Single Grain is found with several age statements; 6-, 8-, 15-, and 18-year versions are produced, although the 15- and 18-year releases are relatively rare (5,000 and 4,000 bottles, respectively). * Connemara – a peated

single malt whiskey Single malt whisky is malt whisky from a single distillery. Single malts are typically associated with single malt Scotch, though they are also produced in various other countries. Under the United Kingdom's Scotch Whisky Regulations, a "Si ...

, Connemara is double-distilled rather than the more usual triple-distillation process that most Irish whiskeys undergo. It is aged in Bourbon casks. Several versions are found; single-cask, cask-strength, 12-year, and a high-peat version called "Turf Mór." * The Tyrconnell – a single malt whiskey, The Tyrconnell was acquired as a brand by Cooley in 1988 after being dormant since 1925, when the old Watt's Distillery (the original producers of The Tyrconnell) closed. * 2 Gingers – A blended whiskey founded in 2011 by Minnesota bar owner and businessman Kieran Folliard. The 2 Gingers Whiskey Co. was acquired by Beam Inc. a year after the product was initially released.

Former products

Cooley also released a single pot still

poitín Poitín (), anglicized as poteen () or potcheen, is a traditional Irish distilled beverage (40–90% ABV). Former common names for Poitín were "Irish moonshine" and "mountain dew". It was traditionally distilled in a small pot still and the te ...

, which was available at the Celtic Whiskey Shop in Dublin and at Dublin Airport, with the intention of expanding production to release it in other markets such as the US. However, this has since been discontinued. Similarly, Michael Collins, a single malt whiskey produced for the US market, was discontinued after the distillery was bought by Beam in 2012.

Distillation process

The distillery features both column stills and

pot still A pot still is a type of distillation apparatus or still used to distill liquors such as whisky or brandy. In modern (post-1850s) practice, they are not used to produce rectified spirit, because they do not separate congeners from ethanol as eff ...

s for distillation. Unlike most other Irish whiskeys, which are usually distilled three times, Cooley's products are generally distilled twice, as the third distillation is thought to remove some of the flavour components.

Critical acclaim

Cooley has won over 300 medals since opening. Other awards they have received include "European Distiller of the Year" in 2008 and 2009 and "Distillery of the Year" in 2008 from the

and "Distillery of the Year" in 2010 from ''

Malt Advocate Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as "malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, whis ...

'' magazine. Individual item awards for Cooley's products include an IWSC "Best in Class" for Kilbeggan in 2005, an IWSC Gold Medal for The Tyrconnell in 2004 IWSC Gold Medal and Best in Class in 2010 for Greenore, and a World Whiskies Awards Best in Class in 2011 and 2012 for Greenore.

References

External links

Cooley Distillery official site
{{Irish whiskey Irish companies established in 1987 Distilleries in the Republic of Ireland Food and drink companies of Ireland Buildings and structures in County Louth Tourist attractions in County Louth Beam Suntory