Planning Submitted for Ardara

And breathe . . .

It has been an exciting few days finalizing the designs for the new distillery in Ardara. Its been a complete rethink from Carrick and the guys at Cornerstone have been working round the clock to get all the new aspects together and make it work for the challenges of the site in the Show Field beside the Owentocker.

We have designed for an An Bord Pleanala appeal – it protects us in the long run anyway but should also give the planners the level of confidence they need to grant approval.

The village of Ardara is well known already for its vibrant festivals, its bars and music scene and fine eateries and its important to us that our business is an addition to the village and not a replacement for anything. We have made choices that integrate the distillery with the village; from using the main village car park and a new pedestrian bridge over the river into the Show Field, opening the front green space to the village. Hopefully these thougths will all make for an ongoing relationship that enhances the community and environment of Ardara.

When you think about the work going on to develop Sliabh Liag, the Narin and Portnoo links, the multiplicity of historic sites in the area and the wide ranging heritage industries on the peninsula it looks like things are on the up.

We have tweaked the distillery distilling design to one of “all grains in” a process whereby we will not have a conventional mash tun but will use a mash conversion vessel – but uniquely for Ireland not filter before fermentation so the milled grains stay in the wash until the wash still.

Exciting times ahead.