Whiskey plan turns sour for producers

The distance between a whiskey production enterprise and a proposed warehouse for its maturation was one of the reasons why planning has been refused.

The proposal was to construct a single storey warehouse building around two miles from Ballinasloe to complement the existing distillery in Ahascragh – but it has been given the thumbs down.

The planning application was submitted by Easyfix Limited, which manufactures rubber products, for the development adjacent to their existing business at Persse Business Park in Ballinasloe.

The company own the site at this location but had intended providing a warehouse to facilitate the existing whiskey and gin distillery in Ahascragh, which has recently received several awards for their products.

Galway County Council rejected the proposal stating that it would be built on a rural unserviced location – around eight miles from the primary business in Ahascragh.

Planners said that in the absence of a robust justification for a warehouse development in an unserviced location, it would be “incompatible with the ethos of rural enterprise”.

They also said that the particular site was occupied by mammals (without specifying what these were) and that from an ecological and environmental point of view, the proposed development was unacceptable.

In the planning application, it was stated that the proposed development would involve whiskey maturation and bottling stages of the production process.

They applicants said that the maturation and bottling were inherent key stages of whiskey production and occurs after and separate from the distillation process.

The McAllister Distillery in Ahascragh in the old mill is nearing completion but the owners are already brewing their own products.

According to their submission to the planning authority, Easyfix Limited stated that when the McAllisters were granted planning for the distillery a couple of years ago, the maturation and bottling was not permitted.

“An extensive warehousing facility is required to facilitate this process in order to assist the Ahascragh Distillers.

“The distillery site is located on a confined site within the village and would not have the access to expansive space required to accommodate and associated maturating and bottling facility,” it was argued.

The application was accompanied by a letter from the Ahascragh Distillery owners Michelle and Gareth McAllister who said that a warehouse goes hand in hand with a whiskey distilling operaton.

They said that a rural and less dense setting was preferable as a maturation warehouse for whiskey needs to be secure.

It would have limited access points with safety and security being a top priority for what they said would be the storage of “a very valuable product”.

“The site at Persse Park is ideal for our whiskey maturation warehousing. It is close to the distillery in Ahascragh allowing for daily deliveries of freshly made spirit for casking and storage in the warehouse,” they said.

(Photo: Gareth and Michelle McAllister from Ahascragh Distillery).