The owner of Ahascragh Distillery in Galway will be cheering on Argentina at the World Cup Final in Qatar, especially midfield dynamo Alexis MacAllister.
Ahascragh was established in July 2018 by chemical engineer Gareth McAllister and his wife Michele McAllister.
The ambitious project in the east Galway village, north of Ballinasloe, has been making steady progress, with the distillery taking delivery recently of large pot stills. Ahead of making its own whiskey, Ahascragh launched the Clan Colla brand made with bought-in spirits.
The Clan Colla brand has its origins in Tullyglass outside Ballymena, which was distilled by the McAllister family in the 1800s.
The distiller’s brother relocated to Donabate in north Dublin and then some of his children emigrated to Argentina. They are the ancestors of Alexis MacAllister, whose father Carlos is a former footballer who won three caps with the national team and was Argentina’s Minister for Sport from 2015 to 2018.
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“We’re hoping to get Alexis over to the distillery soon,” said Gareth. “The Tullyglass distillery went out of business in the 1920s and Guinness picked up the brand. They did nothing with it and now the McAllister family has it again. We're all gathering in Donabate to watch the match and we’ll be linking up the relatives in Argentina on Skype.”
In Ahascragh, the McAllisters are transforming a 19th century mill into a working craft whiskey and gin distillery. Their eco-distillery will be powered by renewable energy with a drive to produce some of Ireland’s first zero-emissions whiskey and gin.
“Located in the heart of the village and steeped in history, the mill complex has remained derelict for the past 70 years,” said Gareth. "We are giving the building a new lease of life with plans for a world class experience and hospitality destination.
“Through tours, tastings and workshops, the visitor centre will offer an intimate and unique experience. A permanent exhibition of the salvaged mill equipment will celebrate the history of the buildings while also exploring Irish whiskey making and the future of the Ahascragh spirit.”
Gareth McAllister is a certified distiller and chemical engineer with over 30 years of experience in the chemical and process industries. Prior to establishing the distilling business, he was President, Asia Pacific, of Lord Corporation, a diversified technology and manufacturing company, and worked out of Hong Kong.
The McAllisters have invested €1.3m of their own cash in the distillery venture, supplemented by c.€3.3m in equity capital raised from private investors.
Ahascragh Distillers Ltd is currently engaged in an EIIS funding round. Details from eiis@ahascraghdistillery.com, ahascraghdistillery.com or gareth@ahascraghdistillery.com.
