The Stewart family have secured planning permission for a proposal to transform their family’s historic mill in Boyle, Co Roscommon into a leading Irish Whiskey Distillery as part of the West of Ireland Whiskey Trail and Wild Atlantic Way
All distillation, maturation, visitor whiskey experience areas will be housed in existing mill buildings on the picturesque riverside location. Neil Stewart is the fourth generation to lead the family firm, which has been doing business in Boyle in the West of Ireland since 1881. With this project, Neil and the rest of the family hope to continue that tradition for centuries to come, creating up to 20 full and part-time jobs in the process.
“We truly believe we have something different,” said Neil. “We’ve been grain millers as far as we can go back in our ancestry in Scotland. Processing Corn was always our thing, so whiskey is a natural product for us to produce. From farm to glass we want to control every part of the process. We will be using the family grown barley and specially grown Barley varieties on different terroirs, on-site floor malting, Oregon pine washbacks, bespoke Forsyths copper stills and of course the finest Barrels available. Most importantly, our Whiskey will not be sold until it is ready.”
The Stewarts’ mill was built in 1820 to harness the power of the River Boyle for industry and electricity for Boyle, and its modern hydroelectric turbines still power the family business to this day. It will be one of the few spirits in the world produced with no carbon footprint, cooled by the abundant Boyle River and powered naturally with sustainable hydroelectric power. With the addition of copper stills from Forsyths, the overall investment will exceed €15m, leading to a capacity of over 1 million bottles a year.
Neil concluded,
“There is now an opportunity for a Strategic Partner to invest at this early stage and they will be very much involved in helping us achieve the goal of creating a super-premium Irish Whiskey which will gain a substantial share of the increasingly global market.”
