WCD was formed in 2003 by childhood friends, John O’Connell, Ger McCarthy and Denis McCarthy at a time when it made very little economic sense to do so. The early years were far from glamorous, operating in a room at the back of Denis’ house in Union Hall with two small stills they bought from a schnapps producer in Switzerland. In 2014 they moved to a new distillery in Skibbereen.
They currently operate out of a 12.5 acre site on Marsh Road, with a distillation capacity of 4 million litres of pure alcohol. With distributors across the globe, their award winning West Cork Irish Whiskey is now sold in almost 70 countries. Case sales have risen considerably every year for the past six years and their staff has grown to over 80 people, with the majority based locally in West Cork.
WCD want to make Irish whiskey accessible. The opening of the new distillery makes them the largest, wholly Irish owned distillery in the country. Their award winning West Cork Irish Whiskey is now sold in almost 70 countries, making it one of the best Irish whiskeys available.
