As each sector adapts to reach climate change goals, the Irish Whiskey Association is making a “huge effort” to create a regenerative approach with local suppliers, according to the director of the association, Eoin Ó Catháin.
The sector relies on approximately 300,000t of Irish grain across the island each year.
Ó Catháin said that over the past two decades, the country has seen “exponential growth” in the sector.
A lot of the growth is seen through exports, with 95% of produce exported to all over the world, to over 120 markets.
However, he said that the market depends on how the sowing season is affected.
“It’s something that perhaps is a concern, not a growing concern or not too much of a concern, but something we do have to think about in the Irish whiskey sector, is how a bad harvest or bad sowing season could impact eventually on supply,” Ó Catháin said.
He said that sustainability is becoming “more and more important” in the sector.
Whiskey
“As the Irish whiskey sector grows, so too will the demand and the need for strong grain sector in Ireland.
“That is why we need to be more sustainable in our approach to be able to withstand those external pressures, be they weather,” Ó Catháin said.
“The strength of the farming sector in Ireland will play to our strength, as it does vice versa, the stronger we are, the more benefit it brings to the agricultural sector also,” he added.
The director spoke during a tour of Ahascragh Distillery in Co. Galway.
The family-run whiskey and gin distillery by Gareth and Michelle McAllister, brands itself as Ireland’s first zero energy emissions distillery.
During their restructuring of an old mill, which dates back to the 1800s, before opening their doors in 2023, the couple received support from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) to create a heat pump design for the business.
Heat is provided to the distillery through heat pumps, which means that there will be no flue related emissions or impacts on the local environment.
The heat pump design, heat recovery and thermal storage means that the energy inputs to the distillery are a third of what would be used by traditional technology, according to the SEAI.