Roe & Co Distillery
Roe & Co Distillery is a revitalized brand (and now distillery) owned and operated by Guinness parent company, Diageo.
It is located on Thomas Street in Dublin across the street from St. James’ Gate brewery. The Guinness team took an old power station and regenerated it to be a new visitor experience and urban distillery. (forgive the pun)
Roe & Co is a legacy brand that dates back to the 18th century. Once the largest distillery in either Britain or Ireland, George Roe & Co helped build the golden era of Irish whiskey in the 19th century. George Roe’s distillery extended over 17 city center acres.
As neighbors for hundreds of years, George Roe & Co and Guinness were the two biggest names at the heart of Dublin’s historic brewing and distilling quarter and amongst the biggest employers in the city.
Production at the new distillery started in the first half of 2019.
Diageo resurrected the original brand and launched a non-chill filtered, premium blended whiskey which was aged in bourbon barrels under the name “Roe & Co” in March 2017 as a forerunner to their own whiskey which will of course take three years to mature, at a minimum.
Additionally, Roe & Co. launched a cask strength version in 2019.
The distillery distills about 14,000 liters of whiskey a day, with an annual maximum capacity of approximately 500,000 liters a year. There does not appear to be a maturation warehouse onsite.
Unusually for the whiskey industry, Roe and Co is led by a female dominant team. These include Gráinne Wafer, Roe & Co’s global brand director; Caroline Martin, Diageo’s Master Blender; Lora Hemy, Roe & Co’s Head Distiller; Fiona Sheridan, Roe & Co’s Assistant Distiller; Tanya Clarke, General Manager Reserve & Incubation Brands; Hayley Millner, Marketing Manager, Roe & Co Irish Whiskey and Shannon Green, Senior Engineering Project Manager.