The Kilbeggan Distilling Company was founded in 1757, making it the oldest licensed distillery of its kind in Ireland. The distillery spent the next 200 years making a whiskey known and loved all around the world. The distillery experienced hardships during the time of Prohibition but was saved by the hard work and determination of the small, tight-knit townsfolk, who continue to work there to this day.
Since reopening, the distillery has launched a Kilbeggan Small Batch Rye, the first whiskey to be 100% distilled and matured on-site since the restoration was completed. Instead of triple distilling, like other distilleries, Kilbeggan instead prefers to double-distil their whiskies to preserve more of the flavour. Small Batch Rye is an example of this process. The whiskey is produced from a mash of malt, barley, and about 30% rye, said to reflect the traditional practice of using rye, which was common at 19th-century Irish distilleries but has since virtually died out.
The distillery's visitor centre was among the nominations in Whisky Magazine's Icons of Whisky visitor attraction category in 2008.
