Athrú Whiskey And Sustainability
From the very moment we embarked upon our Athrú journey, sustainability was at the forefront of our minds; we knew we wanted to build more than a distillery and make more than a whiskey.
Sustainability is more than just a buzzword to us; it’s part of our values, it’s formed the way we developed our distillery, and it’s in every drop of whiskey. It wasn’t just our dream to own a distillery or to make amazing Irish single malt whiskey, it was our dream to use our surroundings, foundations, and intricate distilling knowledge to make sure our whiskey is not only delicious but is also made in the best way it can be.
While we’re inherently traditional in our whiskey-making methods, we’re also keenly innovative and modern in our approaches too. As such, the conception of a new distillery has been advantageous in allowing us to marry the two approaches. And, instead of having to replace equipment and refurbish an existing distillery, in reviving a derelict building in one of Co. Sligo’s most beautiful areas, we’ve been able to put these sustainability ideas into practice and make them a reality from our inception.
But, don’t just take our word for it - here’s how we’ve been making our journey to sustainability, whilst crafting a single malt Irish whiskey along the way...
Our Surroundings
No words can truly describe the breathtaking surrounds of the Lough Gill Distillery. Situated on a peninsula on the banks of the Garavogue River in Co. Sligo, beside Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way, this unique location offers spectacular views of Benbulben, the Atlantic Ocean, and even benefits from its own microclimate.
It’s not just us who are in awe of these natural wonders, it’s land that’s long inspired folklore and mythology, artists and poets - including W.B. Yeats, (whose most famous works Lake Isle of Innisfree was written about the very land we call home to the Lough Gill Distillery). It’s land, water, and air that’s long served as an inspiration to many, and it’s also inspired us.
Our unique positioning on this peninsula allows us to bring nature into our whiskey in many different ways - the sea breeze from the Atlantic gives our single malt whiskey a wonderfully distinctive flavour profile, while our water source from an ice age aquifer means we’re able to finesse our whisky using the very elements which help the land and sea surrounding us to thrive.
To make our single malt Irish whiskey, we collect our water from a well, deep beneath the Hazelwood Demesne. This water has been filtered down through the layers of rock from Benbulben mountain which provides the dramatic backdrop to the scenery here. This water source invokes a unique flavour to our whiskey, which is then further enhanced by being matured in the finest bourbon casks in our Lough Gill Distillery.
Owing to the beautiful landscape and natural beauty of the peninsula, the area is highly protected, and installing expansive new buildings was never our style. In everything we do, we take inspiration from the past and tradition and combine it with contemporary approaches, and finding our home at Hazelwood was no different.
Previously a media factory, and before that, a yarn plant, the building which measures 6 acres under roof, had been derelict for many years. But, our founders thought it would make the perfect setting for an Irish whiskey distillery, and so they set about transforming it. By giving it this new lease of life, land that has been loved for many hundreds of years and which holds so much history has been able to begin a new chapter, bringing with it opportunities, plans, and of course, single malt Irish whiskey…
Our buildings
Sustainability isn’t just in how we make our whiskey, where we make our whiskey is also a significant factor, and indeed the very foundations (both figuratively and literally) of our Athrú single malt whiskey and the Lough Gill Distillery.
The building we now call home, nestled in 100 acres of land and situated on the peninsula against the dramatic backdrop of the forests, mountains, and lakes was once the largest building in the west of Ireland.
To the front; the Hazelwood Demesne, established in the 1700s by renowned architect Richard Cassels and home for over two centuries to the Wynnes, a powerful Sligo family with political prominence - and, to the rear, the factory in which our very distillery now inhabits - a building six acres in size built in 1969 at the height of Sligo’s industrial revolution.
At first, the factory building was home to Italian company SNIA, which produced nylon yarn, and later, in 1991 it became the location of videotape and cassette production company Saehan Media. But, it had lain derelict for almost a decade before we sought out the building with our vision of creating the Lough Gill Distillery within its walls. Seeing its potential for both becoming a destination for Irish whiskey lovers, and for producing and maturing whiskey (the factory is six acres under roof, making it ideal for production and maturation), our founders acquired the site in 2014 and set about bringing the Lough Gill Distillery to life.
The construction of the distillery hall commenced in 2018, and in order to make our new distillery as sustainable as possible, it was important to use as many existing assets as practicable. Not only would establishing a new building have involved using a phenomenal amount of energy, it would also have had a huge impact on the environment. By recycling and working with existing buildings we were able to deliver a materially more sustainable project than is typical for a new build distillery of this scale.
The next steps in our distillery journey include adapting and carefully further transforming the space to include additional distilling space, a visitor centre, and eateries, with all work sympathetically carried out to ensure our surroundings remain as beautiful, mythical, and remarkable as ever before.
Our equipment
Once we’d settled on turning the disused factory into our distillery home, we needed to ensure the building was equipped with all the tools we needed to finely craft our Irish single malt whiskey. We wanted this equipment to reflect our sustainability ethos, allowing us to be sustainable from our repurposing of the factory right through to our distilling methods.
When it came to selecting the equipment we would use to craft our Athrú Irish whiskey, there were no compromises - we chose state-of-the-art equipment, designed to be the most energy-efficient possible, using innovative heat exchange systems to recapture heat energy and ensure minimal heat energy leakage.
Unlike whiskey distilleries built in the past which may be working with less efficient equipment and less sustainable options, in our development of the Lough Gill Distillery, we were able to employ the best available technology from start to finish, instead of attempting to alter older, less robust and effective systems.
In 2017, we commissioned Italian-based company Frilli to build a 1 million litre whiskey plant. Their world-class equipment was exactly the right innovation we sought for our vision of the Lough Gill Distillery; we were able to have this equipment (including fermentation tanks and CIP tanks, a grain handling system, and our three copper pot stills) specified to be the most energy-efficient possible.
In 2018, prior to the equipment’s delivery, we made a trip to Sienna, Italy where it was being crafted, and there we were able to see our stills come to life. These pot stills are 100% copper with a stainless-steel concave base, which allows the liquid inside to drain into the recirculation line easily, and the design of these stills is such that they minimise reflux in order to create a lighter, more refined spirit with a distinguished flavour profile.
The following months saw the kit make its way to Ireland, where it was finally installed and ready to begin making our single malt Irish whiskey.
The methods we employ when distilling our whisky help to contribute to sustainability, too. We heat the liquid using steam via a gas-fired pressurized steam boiler. This steam is then used as our heat source throughout the process. By recovering the heat from one part of the process to the next, we’re able to have total control over the temperature, and therefore can control the profile of the distillate too.
We’re also able to store the hot water from various parts of the distilling process in insulated vessels. This water is used the next day in the production of our whiskey, enabling us to remain as sustainable and as efficient as possible during the distilling process.
Our Ecosystem
It’s not just the drinkers of our finely crafted single malt Irish whisky that benefit from the way our whiskey is made - we instill an entire ecosystem, whereby drinkers, locals, and businesses alike benefit from the way we make our whiskey.
We waste as little as possible, but anything we do have excess of, we try to repurpose to ensure we have a sustainability ecosystem we can be proud of. We look at all elements of our processes, from the heating to the distilling, to the packaging of our products, to ensure that along the Athrú journey, we’re always mindful to keep sustainability at the forefront of our practices.
This is the case for our spent lees, created during the whiskey distilling process. Typically, these lees, found in the spirit still after the distillation of the foreshots, potable spirits, and feints would be wasted, but instead, we supply local farmers with our waste products, which they’re able to use as animal feed.
It’s not just the lees we repurpose - our sustainability methods ensure a closed-loop, from the energy recapture in our distillery, to the recycled packaging we use when delivering each bottle of Athrú single malt whiskey. This is just the start, too - we’re always looking at new ways to be innovative and pair creating the finest Irish whiskey with sustainability and efficiency.
Our Sustainable Future
A lot of the sustainability we’ve mentioned is in the here and now - the methods we employ affect our day-to-day distilling processes and impact our direct surroundings. But, what about the future?
As with everything we do, we’re inspired by the past but with a modern approach, and this extends to our sustainability visions too. The majestic Hazelwood House with its grand rooms, imposing hallways and sweeping staircases is a huge part of our heritage, both within the local area and within the distillery’s grounds. However, the grandiose building likely wasn’t the most energy-efficient; it boasted 20 fireplaces, with each one needing to be lit to keep the house warm during Georgian times - definitely not the energy efficiency we hope to instill today.
Hazelwood House is described in the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage database as one of County Sligo's "most neglected treasures", and we’re passionate about once again making the house a destination visitors will enjoy again and again. Our plans include reusing excess heat energy from the distillery to heat Hazelwood House and provide a warm welcome to visitors each time they visit us here at Athrú.