The 250th Anniversary of the Kilbeggan Distillery is marked by the launch of new packaging for Kilbeggan Irish Whiskey

Kilbeggan Irish Whiskey is getting a rich new look to celebrate its long history and the resurgence of Irish whiskey in the United States.

Dating back to 1757, the Kilbeggan Distillery is acknowledged as the oldest physically licensed distillery in the world. The distillery had been a stalwart of the Irish whiskey industry through the glory years of the 1800’s when Irish whiskey was the spirit of choice around the world. However, the early 1900’s signalled the demise of Irish whiskey due to a combination of factors including the War of Independence, Prohibition in the U.S. and resistance to change to modern whiskey distillation techniques. A major slump in Irish whiskey exports resulted which caused the Kilbeggan Distillery to cease operating on March 19, 1957.

The Old Kilbeggan Distillery was rescued in 1987 when Cooley Distillery bought the old distillery “lock, stock and barrel” with the aim to maintain the working distillery as a museum and utilise its extensive warehouses to mature its whiskey. As part of Cooley’s strategy to resurrect an ancient brand of Irish whiskey they named their flagship brand “Kilbeggan.” Kilbeggan Irish whiskey has won a host of different medals over the past 10 years including: “Best in Category” at International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) in 2005, Silver Medal from the IWSC 2006 and Silver Medal from International Review of Spirits 2006.

The Old Kilbeggan Distillery and the Kilbeggan whiskey brand are celebrating their 250th anniversary this year. This anniversary year the distillery will officially re-open as a working distillery. This is a landmark by itself but to celebrate Cooley is taking the further steps of resurrecting the heritage of the Kilbeggan brand by re-packaging the whiskey into a proprietary bottle with a more contemporary look. The new premium packaging reflects the quality of the whiskey and will facilitate Kilbeggan as it tries to regain its popularity in the United States.

Jack Teeling, Marketing Director for Cooley Distillery comments “The 250th anniversary is a perfect opportunity for us to re-introduce Kilbeggan Irish Whiskey to the U.S. market. The whiskey is undoubtedly of exceptional quality and the new package is a better reflection of its class.”

Vice President and General Manager Jon Mowry of Gemini Spirits and Wine Company salutes Cooley Distillery’s commitment to traditional methods of producing high quality Irish whiskies by saying, “Cooley Distillery continues to prove itself as a superior Irish whiskey producer. In its new package Kilbeggan now stands out as the fine product it is.”

About Gemini Spirits & Wine Company

Gemini Spirits & Wine Company has a long tradition of bringing fine wines and spirits from around the world to discriminating consumers in the United States. Founded in 1934 by Harry Feinberg, the company's early years were focused on the importation of predominantly first growth, exceptional French wines. A major departure took place at the 1964 World's Fair when the company launched Yago Sangria, which became the first 2 million case imported brand in the U.S. PepsiCo acquired the business in 1972, giving PepsiCo rights to Stolichnaya, a 10,000 case brand at the time, and other respected brands such as Concha y Toro. The company flourished; during 1977-79, it was the only U.S. wine importer to have five 100,000 case brands. The company was also building Stolichnaya into a great brand during that period; by 1993, Stoli was 1.2 million cases. In early 1994, U.S. distribution rights for Stoli were moved to Carillon as a result of industry changes.

After over 60 years of continued success, the New Orleans-based spirit company Sazerac acquired the company in 1994. Sazerac is a privately held, family owned business.

Gemini Spirits & Wine Company is headquartered and run from its offices in Loomis, California

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