Irish Distillers is to pause whiskey production at its distillery in Midleton, County Cork, for a period of three months.
The Irish whiskey division of French spirits group Pernod Ricard said the shutdown – from early April 2025 until summer time – was necessary to “support the sustainable global growth of its portfolio”.
Irish Distillers’ portfolio includes the Jameson, Redbreast and Method & Madness whiskey brands.
Its Midleton distillery usually halts production for one month a year in order to conduct maintenance.
The extended review would enable Irish Distillers to conduct a “routine, periodic review”, the company said.
“This review demonstrates our ability to be agile with our production cycles and has been enabled through improved operational efficiency and state-of-the-art production facilities,” a spokeswoman for Irish Distillers said. “We remain fully committed to the production of Irish whiskey at Midleton Distillery and have communicated this adjustment to our staff, suppliers, customers and contractors to enable forward business planning.”
Irish Distillers is currently constructing an additional €250m (£210m) carbon-neutral whiskey distillery in Midleton to sit adjacent to its existing production facility.
Volumes at the unit grew 3% in the six months to the end of 2024 on sales that were broadly flat.
There are fears global demand for whisky/whiskey may be on the wane, however. Last month, the SWA reported an 3.7% drop in the value of scotch whisky exports in 2024.
Meanwhile, the value of rare whisky/whiskey at auction has collapsed, with bottles sold globally for more than £1,000 declining 34% volume and 40% in value in the year to 1 October 2024, according to Edinburgh-based investment bank Noble & Co.
Earlier this week, Diageo announced a temporary pause at its American whiskey distillery in Lebanon, Kentucky, stating it was ahead of planned production volumes.
Diageo also paused construction of a C$245m (£133m) distillery for Canadian whisky Crown Royal in November last year.
No comments yet