Roe and Co Irish Whiskey - Birth of a brand
There are a plethora of new distilleries either newly opened or opening soon in Ireland. Irish whiskey is supposed to be the next big thing. Having had a terrible time from the mid 1960’s until the opening of the Cooley distillery in the late 1980’s Irish whiskey is now having a resurgence. This resurgence is no flash in the pan. Diageo, the worlds largest spirits company has joined the fray with their own brand of Irish whiskey and a brand new distillery to supply it. Roe and Co is the brand and is built very near the old distillery site of the Thomas Street Distillery, run by the Roe family. It was one of the largest distilleries in Britain at the time with a capacity of over two million litres a year. The distillery closed in 1926.
The new Roe and Co distillery is quite different. The maximum capacity is around 500,000 litres, and there is a small team. Head distiller Lora Hemy, with distiller Fiona Sheridan run the operational side of things with support from Hayley Milner, the global marketing manager and Alan Mulvihill the European brand ambassador. At the moment the whiskey is made from bought in stocks of Irish whiskey, which is then blended, but the plan is to use the whiskey from the distillery in the long term.
In 2019 a visitor centre opened, and it is a visitor centre with a difference. For a start you can take pictures in the still house! With a walkway high above, but open to the stills, it is safe to take pictures and gives one a bird’s eye view of all the equipment and a clear view on the distillation process. There is also lots of fun making cocktails in a dedicated cocktail class area and a sensory room too. All in all, a modern entertaining and informative experience.
The liquid is very good too. The blending is as one would expect from the blenders of the worlds largest selling blended whisky; it is extemporary. I’ve tasted the whiskey from first release to the press in 2017, through to a bottle last weekend for world whiskey day, and the consistency is impeccable. The casks used are predominantly bourbon casks, so there is a lot of sweetness, and power, as the abv is set at 45%. It is incredibly smooth and the 45% doesn’t show as being hot at all. With all this expertise in the bottle it’s a surprise the price is only around £30. This whiskey has joined my go to Johnnie Walker Black label as a whiskey to go to when I’m not sure what I want, and I frequently find that is it Roe and Co I actually want. And if you’d like to try it too you can buy it below.
ABV: 45%
Size: 700ml
Buy it now for £29.49
With Irish whiskey on the rise how about reading about Waterford Distillery? A new distillery on the south coast of Ireland