UK – Titanic Distillers, a Belfast-based craft spirit producer has invested £7.6 million (US$8.5m) to construct an Irish whiskey distillery and visitor center in Northern Ireland’s capital.
This is after the company received planning permission to build the new distillery in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter in Nov. 2021.
The new planned investment will encompass the redevelopment of the Titanic Pump House, which was first opened in 1911 to accommodate the White Star transatlantic liners Olympic and Titanic.
The craft- distiller will also install three large stills on a mezzanine floor overlooking the original pumping engines.
To become a tourist center, the site will retain its original pump equipment and other historical features, which will be available to view as part of the tour.
Richard Irwin, director of Titanic Distillers, said: “There is a significant global market opportunity for Irish whiskey and we’re already seeing great success for our Titanic Distillers Premium Irish Whiskey in retailers throughout Great Britain.
“With significant investment in a dedicated distillery, we’ll soon be able to produce and bottle our products on this historic site and build on our success to date to grow in global markets, with an initial focus on the US.
Meanwhile, Titanic Distillers has also received £2m (US$2.2m) in funding from Whiterock Finance through the Growth Finance Fund, part of Invest Northern Ireland’s Access to Finance program.
The construction of the Titanic Distillery’s plant is happening concurrently with another Irish whiskey project in Belfast, following years of delays.
Belfast Distillery Company embarks redesigning jail project to distellary after many years of halt
The Belfast Distillery Company (BDC), owner of Irish whiskey brand McConnell’s invested £22.3m (US$27m) to open a distillery and visitor center on the site of a former jail in Belfast, which is now due to open by autumn 2023.
BDC said it was permitted to transform the Victorian jail into a 480,000-litre distillery, that will produce triple-distilled malt Irish whiskey.
Grain whiskey will be supplied through a long-term contract with another distillery, although the group has not ruled out plans to build its grain distillery in the future.
The jail is also to be redesigned to boast a “state-of-the-art” visitor’ center and restaurant, which Ray claimed will help generate tourism in the area.
BDC also signed a 125-year lease with the Belfast government for the Crumlin Road site, which is situated near the original location of McConnell’s original distillery that closed in the 1920s.
The group has also acquired some brownfield land within 10 miles of the distillery on which to build warehousing facilities.
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