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30 June 2025By Lauren Bowes
Diageo-owned Irish brand Roe & Co is the latest whiskey distillery to halt production, although it will continue blending and packaging existing inventory.
A Diageo spokesperson said: โIn order to optimise resources and support the sustainable future growth of our business, we have made the decision to put an extended pause on distillation at the Roe & Co Distillery.
โThe visitor centre will remain open to the public, and we will continue to blend and package Roe & Co to meet existing and new consumer demand using existing inventory.โ
It is understood that a consultation process is under way with a small number of employees impacted by the move.
Earlier this year, Diageo paused production and barrel filling at its carbon-neutral whiskey distillery in Lebanon, Kentucky, stating it was โahead of schedule with the volume we produce at the siteโ.
Roe & Co joins other Irish distilleries on pause, including Pernod Ricardโs Midleton Distillery, Tullamore, and Dublin Liberties Distillery. We recently looked into why major whisky makers are struggling with oversupply.
The Dublin-based distillery first launched in 2017, as Diageoโs first move back into Irish whiskey following its disposal of Bushmills in 2014. Production began in 2019.
The brand was named after George Roe, who was once behind the biggest distillery in Ireland โ George Roe & Co โ which closed in 1926.
It released its first single malt in 2020, a 13-year-old Irish whiskey matured in Port casks. Recently, it created a solera whisky using some of its very first casks.
In other Irish whiskey news, today it was revealed that County Wicklowโs Powerscourt Distillery had appointed a receiver.
Powerscourt Distillery has become the latest Irish whiskey producer to appoint a receiver as it faces financial difficulties.
Powerscourt Distillery secured a loan in 2023 to increase production and market expansion
The producer of Fercullen whiskey confirmed on its website that it had appointed Mark Degnan of Interpath Advisory as its receiver on 26 June.
The distillery will remain open to the public and continue to process online retail sales, it noted in the statement.
The appointment of a receiver is typically used to manage or take control of a companyโs assets, usually when a company defaults on its financial agreements.
In April last year, Powerscourt confirmed it was โcontinuously examining options to secure additional growth capitalโ to boost its production capabilities, enhance brand development and support market expansion. The statement was made in response to a report that it was exploring a sale of the business.
In 2023, Powerscourt Distillery secured a โฌ25 million (US$27.4m) loan from PNC Business Credit to drive forward its global growth plans.
Several distilleries have faced challenges such as oversupply and surging costs in the past year, prompting temporary closures and the appointment of receivers.
In April this year, Ireland-based Killarney Brewing & Distilling Company hired an interim examiner to safeguard the business after experiencing a whiskey supply glut and surging costs.
Last year, Mark Reynierโs Irish whiskey distillery Waterford also appointed Interpathโs Degnan and Daryll McKenna as its receivers to โsecure the future of the businessโ.
The Spirits Business has approached Interpath Advisory for comment. Powerscourt did not provide a statement, and instead requested enquiries to be sent to Interpath.
The Powerscourt Distillery and visitor centre opened to the public in 2019, following the build of a โฌ10m (US$11.8m) distillery at the Powerscourt Estate in Enniskerry.
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