About Cooley Whiskey Distillery
Distillery Number
+353 (0)42 9376102
Distillery Founded
1987
Distillery Capacity
3 250 000 litres
Distillery Status
Active
Distillery Owner
Cooley Distillery plc
Distillery Address
Riverstown, Cooley, Co. Louth
Distillery Website
www.cooleywhiskey.com
1987
John Teeling purchases Ceimici Teo Distillery in Dundalk. Previously it has produced spirits in column stills (e. g. vodka) and is now renamed Cooley Distillery.
1988
Willie McCarter acquires part of A. A. Watt Distillery and the brand Tyrconnell and merges with Teeling. Teeling simultaneously buys decommissioned Locke’s Kilbeggan Distillery which will be used for storage of whiskey from Cooley.
1989
A pair of pot stills is installed for production of both malt and grain whiskey.
1992
Locke’s Single Malt, without age statement, is launched as the first single malt from the distillery. Cooley encounters financial troubles and Pernod Ricard, via Irish Distillers, offers to purchase the company for £24.5 million.
1994
The Competition Authority establishes that Irish Distillers cannot acquire Cooley as they then would be dominating the Irish whiskey market.
1995
Finances improve and production resumes.
1996
Connemara is launched.
2000
Locke’s 8 year old single malt is launched.
2003
The Connemara 12 year old is launched.
2006
Five Connemara Single Casks from 1992 are released.
2007
Kilbeggan distillery is reopened.
Reproduced from the Malt Whisky Yearbook 2009 with the kind permission of Mr Ingvar Ronde