Pat Cooney-led Boann Distillery secures €5m AIB loan to expand plants

Family-run Boann Distillery has secured €5 million of funding from AIB to support the expansion of its whiskey distillery in Drogheda and its cream liqueur and bottling facility in Clonmel, Co Tipperary.

Boann Distillery, founded by the former owner of the Gleeson Group drinks company, Pat Cooney and his family, first commenced distilling its pot still whiskey in Drogheda 2019. The planned expansion would see its capacity double to 1.6 million litres of pure alcohol, according to Mr Cooney.

The company plans to complete a visitor centre at its site on the Platin Road in Drogheda next year to include a restaurant, bar, microbrewery, retail space, meeting rooms, tasting rooms and visitor experience.

Abridged accounts filed last month by Boann Distillery with the Companies Registration Office show that the company posted a €3 million profit for its financial year to the end of June.

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“Ireland is the home of whiskey, and Irish whiskey remains a key driver of growth in the drinks sector, with exports estimated at circa €1 billion in 2022, up 25 per cent on 2019 levels,” said Joanna McFadden, head of AIB’s new business team for Dublin and the east of Ireland.

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“Boann Distillery has had significant growth since it first commenced distilling its pot still whiskey in 2019, and we are delighted to support its expansion ambitions as it seeks to grow its distillery further and welcome new visitors from home and abroad.”

The company currently has about 10,000 casks in maturation which ensures a healthy pipeline for the future. It also produces Silks gin and ”1848″ apple brandy.

Mr Cooney and his family netted €12.4 million in 2012 in cash from the sale of Gleeson Group, a leading drinks wholesaler and manufacturer behind Tipperary water and Finches orange, to C&C in a deal that gave the business an enterprise value of €58 million, including debt.