A new Irish whiskey distillery at Belfast’s Crumlin Road Gaol will open to visitors later this month.
Tickets for the McConnell’s Distillery tour have gone on sale ahead of its official opening on March 27 2024.
The £22 million investment has transformed the A-wing at the historic gaol site into a brand new working distillery, which will produce spirits for the Belfast Distillery Company.
The company, now part of New York-based Conecuh Brands, has revived the 150-year-old McConnell’s Irish Whisky brand.
The McConnell family, whose involvement in the Belfast spirit trade dates back to the 18th century, went on to establish J&J McConnell, which built the Cromac Distillery in the Ravenhill Road area during 1899.
The distillery, like many others, closed during the 1930s.
The A-wing of the ‘Crum’ jail housed prisoners from the 1840s until its closure in 1996.
The proposal for a distillery inside the A-wing was originally proposed by Belfast investor Peter Lavery during 2012.
The distillery plan gained significant traction when US investors James Ammeen, Joseph Babiec and William Bocra took control of the Belfast Distillery Company in 2019.
Peter Lavery went on to help establish Titanic Distillers, which opened in the Titanic Quarter last year.
Based at historic Thompson Dock and Pumphouse, it launched production last August, becoming Belfast’s first working Irish whiskey distillery for almost 90 years.
Backed by Invest NI, the new McConnell’s Distillery is set to enhance the city’s tourist offering.
It’s expected to create 49 jobs across its operations.
The tour, which costs £25 for an adult ticket, will offer visitors an opportunity to get up-close and personal with the historic gaol wing and its three new pot stills.
Visitors will also be able to sample McConnell’s five-year-old sherry cask whiskey, and even try some ‘new make’ liquid, straight off the stills.
“We are thrilled to be at the stage of putting tickets on sale and to be on the verge of opening after years of planning, building and fit out,” said John Kelly, chief executive of the Belfast Distillery Company.
“Having taken the tour myself this week, I am very confident that all of our visitors will have a truly world-class experience when we open later this month.
“We are very confident that we will soon see the space come alive with tourists, locals and visitors from around the world.
“Following significant investment from our board and global investor community, additional finance from Santander plus the support of Invest NI, and the Departments for Communities and Infrastructure, we have put in place an experience which really will take your breath away.”
