Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland Corporate Finance Ltd (“Cantor”) is delighted to continue its long track record in supporting Irish small and medium sized enterprises (SME’s) through raising growth capital. Ahascragh Distillers Ltd (“ADL”) being the latest example, having been recently engaged by the company to raise funding through the Employment and Investment Incentive Scheme.

ADL is a newly commissioned distillery and visitor centre in Ahascragh village, County Galway. The distillery is a nineteenth century historical mill converted into a working whiskey and gin distillery. This eco-distillery is powered by renewable energy with a drive to produce some of Ireland’s first zero-emissions whiskey and gin.

Gareth and Michelle McAllister are a husband-and-wife team from Dublin. Having lived and worked in countries across Europe, the US and Asia, they returned to Ireland with the dream of turning their passion for Irish spirits into a family business. ADL’s goal is to create quality Irish spirits with innovation, transparency and flair. They are passionate about distilling some of the first zero-emissions spirits in Ireland and changing the traditional energy source used for Irish whiskey production.

Worldwide spirits production is growing in line with an increased demand in established and emerging markets. Irish whiskey has been the fastest growing segment of the global spirits market for more than a decade, growing at a 10% CAGR since 2010. Whiskey is currently the second largest spirits category globally and is catching up with Vodka. As per the latest report by IMARC Group, the global Irish whiskey industry size reached US$4.7 Billion in 2022. It is expected to reach US$7.5 Billion by 2028 and exhibit a growth rate (CAGR) of 7.44% during 2023-2028. The growth in Irish whiskey sales in the US last year was also greater than the growth experienced by Scotch over the past 10 years. At this rate it will outgrow Scotch by 2030 (Source The Irish Whiskey 2010-2020 Drinks Ireland/Irish Whiskey Association).

Proceeds of the fundraise will go towards the laying down of ADL’s whiskey stock, adhering to the Irish Whiskey Act which specifies that Irish Whiskey must be aged for at least three years in wooden casks in Ireland before it can be called Irish Whiskey. These funds will also support working capital as ADL looks to scale the business in the coming years.