Irish Distillers is investing €10m in three new pot stills at its Midleton whiskey distillery, which will increase its capacity to produce single pot still whiskey by over 30%.

Irish whiskey is the fastest-growing premium spirit globally. Since 2012, Irish Distillers has invested €120m in the Midleton Distillery, €20m at its Fox and Geese bottling facility in Dublin, and is investing €100m at its Dungourney maturation site.

The three copper pot stills, handmade by master coppersmiths Forsyth’s of Scotland and weighing eight tonnes each, were delivered to Midleton Distillery on January 18. Each still has a capacity of over 75,000 litres. Installation has now commenced and the stills will be operational by June 2017, with 60 jobs created during construction and installation.

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Jean-Christophe Coutures, chairman and CEO of Irish Distillers, said: “Irish whiskey continues to enjoy phenomenal global growth, led by Jameson with sales of 5.7 million cases in 2016. With this additional investment of over €10 million at Midleton Distillery we will ensure that we are positioned to meet growing global demand and support the growth of Irish whiskey in the international spirits category."

Pure pot still is the traditional Irish whiskey style, and an equivalent to a Scottish single malt in the hierarchy of whiskies, though different in various aspects of the production process, the most important of which is the use of unmalted barley.

Paul Wickham, general manager of Midleton Distillery, added: “Single pot still Irish whiskey is the quintessential style of Irish whiskey, which Irish Distillers saved from virtual extinction in the mid-1900s. Since then we have been investing to protect this traditional Irish whiskey style, and today’s announcement will help us grow brands such as Redbreast and Green Spot Irish whiskey even further over the next 30 years and beyond.

“Using unmalted barley is a long-standing tradition of Irish whiskey and one which contributes to the smooth characteristics of our products. At present, we spend €60m annually on cereals, energy, capital projects and payroll in the local economy and this will increase with the installation of these new stills.”