West Cork Distillery was formed in 2003 by childhood friends, John O’Connell, Ger McCarthy, and Denis McCarthy at a time of great financial stress in the country.
Distilling began in a small room at the back of Den’s house in 2003 and it wasn’t until 2014 that the operation moved to Market Street in Skibbereen. As the business expanded, much of the distillery equipment was hand-built as needed, such as the Rocket, reported to be ‘the fastest still in the world’ at the time.
The company has grown much to become one of the two independent distilleries in Ireland and currently operates out of a 12.5 acre site on Marsh Road, with a distillation capacity of 4mln litres of pure alcohol. The award-winning West Cork Irish Whiskey is now sold in almost 70 countries.
