West Cork

West Cork Distillery (WCD), founded in 2003, was inspired by County Cork’s proud history of food and drink production. Three friends, Denis McCarthy, Ger McCarthy and John O’Connell, had achieved some success in their respective fields by 2003. Denis and Ger had worked on deep sea trawlers, while John was a research and development scientist for some major food and drink companies. The friends teamed up and decided to try their hand at making drinks. They initially experimented with pale brown spirits. In 2007, the trio produced Dromberg, a fortified spirit made by fermenting sugar beet and malt and aged on oak chips using a method developed by O’Connell. Then came the Lough Hyne, which was made using the same principle but stronger and aged in Irish whiskey and bourbon casks. Only then did the friends move on to making whiskey.

All West Cork whiskeys are made from Irish ingredients: grain, spring water and barley, with WCD being the only Irish distillery to malt its own barley. The whiskey is triple distilled, but the pots are only half full to ensure maximum interaction of the copper with the steam. West Cork Distillers was previously based in a rented 10,000 sq ft distillery in Skibbereen. In 2013, turnover reached €3.5 million, and it was time to expand. By 2016, WCD had moved to a new site, having invested around €1.5 million in its acquisition and modernisation. Today, West Cork Distillers is one of two independent distilleries in Ireland.