Tullamore Dew brings back visitor experiences

A new visitor experience is opening at Tullamore distillery, with an official launch on St Patrick’s Day.

 Tullamore Dew’s whiskey heritage centre and restaurant on Bury Quay, Tullamore, closed in October 2020, marking the end of an attraction that had once drawn up to 40,000 people a year.

However, Scotttish owners William Grant & Sons are now opening the all new visitor at the Tullamore distillery itself, giving visitors “the chance to see, smell, taste and touch every aspect” of how the second-largest Irish whiskey brand is produced.

Tullamore Dew’s associate global brand director Nora Torpey said: “It’s such a wonderful opportunity to showcase the brand and the distillery”.

Tickets, which cost €35 for walk-ins and €31.50 online, have been on sale since February 28th, with 76 sold on the first day, before the Co Offaly company had begun promoting it.

Although it hopes for “tens of thousands” of visitors, Tullamore Dew does not expect the numbers through the door to be as high as they were for the previous visitor centre in the Old Bonded Warehouse, a building since acquired Ofally native golfer Shane Lowry and publican and hotelier Alan Clancy.

How many people it ends up welcoming in 2022 will depend on the strength of the recovery in overseas tourist numbers in the wake of the pandemic.

“We’re sort of being cautiously optimistic. I think that’s the only way to be at the moment,” Ms Torpey said.”