New roadmap for huge growth of the all-Ireland whiskey distilleries

Whiskey distilleries here are being encouraged to join an all-Ireland drive to increase sustainability and thereby strengthen their competitiveness in the global marketplace.

The all-island focus on sustainability and competitiveness, which is being driven by the Irish Whiskey Association (IWA), part of Drinks Ireland in Dublin, came as two of our smaller distilleries, Two Stacks in Newry and Rostrevor’s Killowen, announced new deals that will see their original products on sale across Canada. And Limavady Single Cask said it will be selling in a further 20 US states within the next few weeks.

The whiskey is already on sale in 10 states.

Several local whiskey distilleries are already IWA members, including: Old Bushmills, a founder member of the organisation; Echlinville in Kircubbin, home of the historic Dunville whiskeys; Hinch in Ballynahinch; and Rademon in Crossgar, producer of the award-winning Shortcross Gin and Whiskey brands.

David Boyd Armstrong, the joint founder and master distiller at Rademon Estate Distillery is vice chairman of Drinks Ireland which includes the Irish Whiskey Association and is supported by Bord Bia, the Republic’s hugely influential and successful food and drink promotion body.

The IWA wants the island of Ireland to become the home of the world’s most sustainable distilleries and whiskeys. To help achieve this, IWA recently launched ‘Irish Whiskey Sustainable Together’, a new roadmap for how the industry can “reduce its environmental and carbon impact, strengthen its role in the regenerative and circular economy, and deliver a positive impact for communities across the island”.

The campaign has the backing of the Irish Government and Invest NI.

The Republic, according to Pippa Hackett the food and environment minister, sees the initiative as an integral part of the country’s Food Vision 2030 strategy which underlines the importance and interconnectedness of sustainability in all its dimensions - economic, social and environmental.

Some of the measures outlined in the IWA roadmap include:

Reducing water usage – The roadmap supports the principle of ‘less-water-in, less-effluent-out’ and sets a target of reducing the volumes of water used per litre of whiskey distilled. The IWA and Irish Water have agreed plans to deliver bespoke, accredited Water Stewardship training days for distilleries

Supporting Irish farming – The Irish whiskey industry purchases over 100,000 tonnes of Irish barley and malt annually and the roadmap commits to

buying even more from Irish farmers.

Supporting the circular economy: Every year, over 350,000 tonnes of co-products from Irish whiskey production (spent grain/pot ale) are reused to become high-quality animal feed and the roadmap commits to strengthening our place in the circular economy.

Energy efficiency – The roadmap proposes a signature project to support innovation on energy efficiency within the industry. This will involve members sharing best practice on energy efficiency; and it will include state agencies and key stakeholders to support implementation.

Tree planting - The IWA has nominated ‘Trees on the Land’ as their all-island tree-planting partner, allowing members to fund tree-planting – which will be comprised of at least 50 per cent oak trees – through a consistent expert programme.

All-Ireland Pollinator Plan – IWA has signed up to support the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan (AIPP) and will be working with the AIPP to support members to implement actions on distillery and maturation sites.

IWA’s William Lavelle explained: “The roadmap is about an industry working together and sharing knowledge with a shared ambition to make Ireland the home of the world’s most sustainable distilleries. We are committed to minimising the life-cycle environmental impact of our production and our supply chains while maximising our support for Irish farming and local suppliers.

“This roadmap will actively support the delivery of climate targets in both the Republic and Northern Ireland. Some Irish whiskey distilleries will reach net-zero very quickly and through the knowledge transfer projects set-out in the roadmap we will support all distilleries to make the transition, particularly the two-thirds of our members who are SMEs.

“This is not just an environmental strategy. The roadmap also addresses the importance of economic and social sustainability. People and place have been at the heart of Irish whiskey’s renaissance and our industry is proud of how we support communities and local economies across the island of Ireland.”

As Irish whiskey is of one of Ireland’s leading all-island industries, the new roadmap is being supported by agencies on both parts of Ireland.

Jeremy Fitch, Invest NI executive director, added: “We recognise the increasing significance of the green economy as a key driver of growth and prosperity, and an ambition across businesses to drive a greener, more sustainable economy.

“We’re delighted to support the launch of the IWA’s roadmap. We look forward to working together to help it deliver the roadmap’s green economic objectives, supporting innovation, efficiencies and environmental impact across the industry.”