Midleton Distillery

Midleton is arguably the most famous Irish whiskey distillery in Ireland, however it is comprised of more than one distillery. There’s the Old Midleton Distillery which now operates as the Jameson Experience, a dedicated visitors centre, there’s the Method and Madness micro-distillery dedicated to innovation and experimentation, and the new Midleton Distillery Complex which is a massive fiber-optic operation and the largest Irish whiskey distillery in the country by a long way.

The Dungourney River which runs through the property has always been a water source for Midleton’s whiskey and even used to be its power supply.

The central distillery is comprised of both pot stills and  column stills. Together they have a total production capacity of almost 100 million liters a year. They essentially function as 2 separate distilleries. The column stills produce grain (maize) whiskey and the pot stills produce single pot still Irish whiskey. This gives Midleton control over all ingredients used in their blended and single pot still whiskeys.

The Method and Madness stills in the micro-distillery are much smaller and in keeping with the artisanal approach of other more contemporary distilleries. The micro-distillery pot stills, column still and a dedicated gin still combine to produce about 50,000 liters if worked at capacity.

The distillery has an entire estate of maturation warehouses and are currently adding a new warehouse every month to accommodate the quantity of whiskeys being produced. At any one time, more than 1.4 million barrels of whiskey are maturing at Midleton.

There are a wealth of whiskeys produced in Midleton including but not limited to Jameson, Redbreast, The Spot Whiskies, Powers, Method and Madness, and Midleton Very Rare.

The visitor center at Midleton is named the “Jameson Experience” after the best-known whiskey produced at the distillery. Much like the Dublin visitor center at Bow St. (the original home of Jameson), the history of this whiskey is the focus of a comprehensive exhibition.

Since 2013 the Irish Whiskey Academy has been offering 1 to 3 day seminars that deal comprehensively with whiskey production for those that want a deeper whiskey education, and where better to learn than right at the Midleton Distillery.