Lough Gill Whiskey has launched a cask reserve programme allowing participants to buy casks and help finance the restoration of the distillery’s home, Hazelwood Estate in Co. Sligo.
Lough Gill’s first release, Athrú Whiskey, first came to market in 2014. The business was founded by David Raethorne and a group of entrepreneurial friends and family who discovered a warehouse-complex hidden behind a dilapidated 300-year-old Palladian Style House in the Hazelwood Estate on the shores of Lough Gill in Co. Sligo.
As part of this journey to create a world-class single malt Irish whiskey, Lough Gill has announced its first Cask Reserve Program.
The program is an opportunity to participate in the Athrú whiskey brand and to become part of the journey of this premium single malt distillery, and the resurgence of Irish whiskey, over the coming years.
Initially, three different cask types are available; 200 litre Bourbon casks, 240 litre Oloroso casks or 500 litre Sherry butts. The Lough Gill team will be available to answer questions and provide support throughout the process, for example, in helping further refine the whiskey by re-casking in later years.
The purchases can be used to celebrate milestones such as weddings, birthdays and retirements. They make ideal corporate gifts, and the bottles can even be labelled with a distinct mark or logo. It is even possible to create a whiskey brand or single cask bottling with the investment.
Included with cask ownership are annual visits to the distillery with up to three guests for VIP access. Cask owners will also be given private access to the distillery’s bonded warehouses to taste samples.
A proportion of the proceeds from the sale of each cask will be reinvested back into Hazelwood House and Estate.
David Raethorne commented: “We are delighted to invite people to join our distillery’s journey in making Ireland’s most beautiful single malt whiskey, while also enabling us to restore the much loved Hazelwood House and Estate on the shores of Lough Gill.
“Our vision for the Lough Gill Distillery and the Hazelwood House and Estate is to create a world-class visitor centre and a landmark tourist destination for the West of Ireland. A proportion of proceeds from the Cask Reserve Program will be reinvested into this vision for Hazelwood Estate. By investing in an Athrú Cask, you are therefore making an investment in the future success of Sligo as a leading visitor destination.”
