Tullamore Dew

Tullamore Dew is a blended Irish whiskey. It was first distilled in 1829 in the small town of Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland. The name derives from the initials of an early owner, Daniel E Williams - D.E.W. Tullamore Dew is the No.2 Irish whiskey brand in the world. It is owned and marketed by Irish company, C&C Group.

Brands

Four Tullamore Dew whiskeys are available: Tullamore Dew, Tullamore Dew 10 Year Old Reserve, Tullamore Dew 12 Year Old Special Reserve and Tullamore Dew Heritage (exclusive to the Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre).

Tullamore Dew

Tullamore Dew is a premium Irish whiskey with a distinctively smooth taste.

Tullamore Dew 10 Year Old Reserve

Tullamore Dew 10 Year Old Reserve, triple distilled and aged in Spanish and American oak casks for a minimum of 10 years, a refined whiskey showing Tullamore Dew’s distinctive smoothness.

Tullamore Dew 12 Year Old Special Reserve

The 12 Year Old is full of complex flavours, married to give a drinking sensation full of depth, character and maturity.

The Tullamore Dew whiskies have a very high concentration of pot still and malt in addition to grain whiskies, triple distilled between 12 to 15 years ago from unmalted as well as malted barley. They have since matured in either old bourbon or sherry casks slowly reaching their perfection.

This aged blend reinforces the status of standard Tullamore Dew, winning gold medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2006, 2007 and 2008 as well as at the International Spirits Challenge in 2006. Other significant awards include the Trophy for Best Irish Whiskey at the International Spirits Challenge in 1999 and 2000.

As you taste the final blend you will first notice the unique clear flavours of the Irish pot still whiskey and malt whiskey. Look next for the undertones of toasted wood (from the bourbon casks) then, somewhere in the background, the sweet nuttiness of oloroso sherry (from the Spanish sherry butts).

Tullamore Dew Heritage

The special Heritage blend of Tullamore Dew was launched in 2000 to mark the opening of the Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre in County Offaly. It is exclusively for sale in the Heritage Centre in Tullamore, County Offaly.

This specially selected blend is another highly regarded, quality whiskey, having won the Trophy for Best Irish Whiskey in 2001, and gold medals at the International Spirits Challenge in 2002 and 2003.

Tullamore Dew History

Tullamore has a proud tradition of distilling whiskey. The first modern factory distillery can be traced back to 1829, founded by Michael Molloy. When he died, the distillery passed into the hands of the Daly Family with Captain Bernard Daly in charge of the business.

One of his colleagues, a Mr. Daniel E. Williams, took over as General Manager and had a huge impact on the business. By 1890, he had the distillery in full swing producing the now famous whiskey, Tullamore Dew. It was actually Daniel’s initials D- E -W that inspired the Whiskey to be so named.

Daniel E. Williams was very enterprising – he brought electricity to Tullamore in 1893. He had the distillery install the town’s first telephones and introduced motorised transport. He ran a commercial empire throughout the midlands – drinks businesses, importing tea, selling seed and grain, and a network of 26 general stores. But there were tough times for Irish whiskey - Prohibition in America and an Economic war with Britain in the1930s didn’t help the industry. After World War II, Edmund Williams, grandson of Daniel E. Williams used modern marketing techniques and re-established Irish whiskey as a world leader.

Edmund proved as enterprising as his grandfather. In 1947, Tullamore also developed a great Irish liqueur - Irish Mist, based on an early recipe known to Ireland’s ancient chieftains. A blend of whiskey, herbs and honey, the recipe disappeared in the late 17th century, only to be rediscovered in a manuscript 250 years later.

Edmund also capitalised on the Irish coffee craze, and perhaps most importantly recognised the potential of blended whiskies. The smooth, mature and distinctive taste of Tullamore Dew can be attributed to his foresight. Tullamore was one of many distilleries that were affected by a general decline in Irish whiskey sales worldwide that started with American Prohibition in 1919, then worsened during a trade war with England in the 1930s and was finally hit by the consequences of World War II.

The distillery eventually closed in 1963 when the brand was sold to Powers and production was moved to a larger distillery near Cork in the south - where it is made today to the same specification. This is quite normal in Ireland: most of the well-known Irish whiskeys are made in just two distilleries, each of which produces many different blends.

Recent Milestones [new section] Tullamore Dew is the No.2 Irish whiskey brand in the world with sales of over 600,000 9 Litre cases (industry standard measure) in 2007. It is currently the fastest growing Irish whiskey brand globally in the fastest growing spirits category.

It is now the No.1 Irish whiskey brand in Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Latvia. In the last three of those, it also significantly outsells all Scotch whisky brands.

Awards

Tullamore Dew has won dozens of awards over the years including a coveted trophy for the best non-Scotch whiskey at the 2005 International Spirits Challenge - one of only four trophies awarded out of over 700 entries.

In the last two years the brand has won an unprecedented number of medals at different wine and spirit competitions, including London’s International Spirit Challenge and gold at The San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2008, as well as a nomination as ‘One to watch’ in 2007 by the prestigious magazine Drinks International.

Media references

While the characters of Callahan's Crosstime Saloon tend to reference Bushmills far more often in later stories, the first short story published by Spider Robinson features Tullamore Dew in its stead. ["The One With the Eyes" by Spider Robinson]