Sazerac Co has unveiled a rebrand of the Lough Gill Distillery acquired in the northwest of Ireland almost three years ago, with its first brand scheduled for a June release.
The County Sligo-based facility, purchased from Hazelwood Demesne in June 2022, will henceforth be known as Hawk’s Rock Distillery. The new name references a “prominent outcrop in the Ox Mountains that inspired Nobel Prize winning poet William Butler (W.B.) Yeats’ play ‘At the Hawk’s Well'”.
The site is currently under renovation with Sazerac having secured planning permission for a visitors centre. The Buffalo Trace brand owner has already tripled the distillery’s warehouse capacity and is in the process of “modernising” the production assets.
“The renaming of Hawk’s Rock Distillery marks a new, yet familiar, frontier for us,” said Sazerac CEO Jake Wenz. “Sazerac is known for its balanced approach to honouring tradition while embracing change in constant pursuit of crafting the world’s best spirits at our distilleries in America, India, Canada and France.
“Our mission holds true for Ireland, and we are excited to reveal how we are blending time-honoured traditions with bold innovation to advance the art of Irish whiskey-making.”
Further details of the “new-to-world” brands from Hawk’s Rock were not disclosed. The initial transaction also included Lough Gill’s Athrú single malt Irish whiskey, which is still available to purchase.
Sazerac also owns the Michael Collins and Paddy brands, the latter of which was bought from Pernod Ricard in 2016.
