9th December, 2013 by Amy Hopkins

The Irishman has unveiled its annual Cask Strength bottling for 2013 following the announcement that its parent company would be building a new multi-million pound craft distillery.

It was revealed in October this year that with financial backing from Italian drinks company Illva Saronno Holding, The Irishman’s parent company Walsh Whiskey Distillery, previously known as Hot Irishman, would be expanding its business to encompass a new a new craft distillery and visitor’s centre, costing €25 million.

Set to be complete in 2016, this expansion will allow Walsh Whiskey Distillers, which previously only bottled its brands, to distill its own Irish whiskey, joining only Diageo, Pernod Ricard Beam and William Grant in the small line-up of Irish whiskey distillers.

The distillery will have capacity to produce 400,000 cases annually, while warehouse capacity will increase to 1.9 million nine-litre cases, allowing the company to extend distribution into key Asian markets.

Aged in ex-Bourbon casks made from American oak and non-chill filtered, only 2160 bottles of The Irishman Cask Strength 2013 are now available worldwide. The liquid was produced by Walsh Whiskey Distillery at Irish Distillers’ Midleton distillery in County Cork.

“Having released previous expressions of cask strength in the past, we are excited and thrilled to once again offer an exceptional cask strength into the market,” said Bernard Walsh, founder of The Irishman Brands.

“We select only a handful of exceptional casks to make this the benchmark for super premium cask strength Irish whiskey.”

Bottle of The Irishman Cask Strength 2013 (54% abv) will retail for £250.