UK minister declares Titanic Distillers officially open for business
Titanic Distillers’ new site at Belfast’s Thompson Dock has been officially opened by UK Minister for Exports Lord Offord.
The minister unveiled a commemorative plaque at the distillery which is based on the site of the historic dock and pumphouse, the birthplace of the Titanic, where whiskey production is now under way for the first time in Belfast since the 1930s.
As well as meeting with Titanic Distillers directors, the Lord enjoyed a brief tour of the £8M distillery and visitor centre, including a whiskey tasting with Head Distiller Damien Rafferty.
He also took time to chat with attending members of the Dockers Club in Pilot Street and Welders Club in Dee Street, in keeping with the company’s ‘Blood, Sweat And Years’ theme which celebrates Belfast’s industrial and maritime past, and is inspired by the people who worked in the city’s shipyard more than a century ago.
“It is an honour to officially open Titanic Distillers at the iconic Thompson Dock today in Belfast,” said Lord Offord.
“The distilling industry has been part of Northern Ireland’s fabric for generations, and it’s been a pleasure to meet with the team and members of the community to see their skills first-hand.”
The visitor centre at Titanic Distillers opened its doors to tourists in April this year and in August the company received its Distillers License to start producing spirits and the stills have been fired up and pouring ever since.
Titanic Distillers director Peter Lavery said: “Today is the culmination of many years’ hard graft to bring this amazing project to life – and while it marks the end of the first ‘construction’ phase, it also signals the start of another phase as we start producing a whiskey and a brand that the people of Belfast and Northern Ireland can be proud of, and that will represent us well all over the world.”
The new distillery will produce single malt premium whiskey made from ingredients that have been carefully selected to produce the best possible flavour.
A unique house blend of malted barley and yeast is used to produce the ‘wash’ which is then distilled in the three Forsyth’s stills, situated on a mezzanine floor overlooking the Pumphouse’s original Gwynne pumping engines which are deep in the building’s pump-well.
