The first purpose-built distillery for a new whiskey in Ireland in more than 200 years has received a warning from Kerry County Council, which claims it does not have proper planning permission.
The facility for Dingle Whiskey in an old sawmills on the seafront at Milltown, Dingle, opened last week. However, brewing company Porterhouse Ltd has been told certain works have been carried out without permission.
Porterhouse has denied it is in breach, and says the distillery site was an industrial site in the 1800s “and the site has not been altered, so effectively the works carried out do not require planning permission”.
The production of whiskey began last week with the addition of 20 jobs. A single malt, pot-stilled whiskey is being produced.
Vodka and gin is also being produced at the site of the old Fitzgerald’s sawmills.
The distillery has the capacity to distil two casks of whiskey a day.
The first 500 of the Dingle casks are being sold to investors and whiskey lovers named as “founding fathers”.
The cost of a cask of 220 litres leading to more than 437 bottles of 40 per cent proof whiskey is €6,100.
“Our planning officer and architects are liaising with Kerry County Council, and we are not in breach of planning regulations,” a Porterhouse spokeswoman said yesterday.
A spokesman for the council yesterday said: “We are in correspondence with the company and a planning application has been received.”