Rosebrack Ltd hopes to build the micro-distillery on the grounds of Castletown Cox Estate in Co Kilkenny, known as one of Ireland’s finest country estates and Palladian mansions. Planning documents filed with Kilkenny County Council said the company and estate does not intend to sell spirits commercially “at this stage”, with the owner wishing “to produce whiskey for their own consumption and that of friends”.
Texan billionaire Kelcy Warren, who owns Rosebrack, bought Castletown Cox for €12.6m in 2018. He is the chairman and largest shareholder of Energy Transfer LP, a huge US gas and oil pipeline company valued at over $60.1bn (€51.5bn).
Kelcy Warren co-hosted a fundraiser for US President Donald Trump, before the elections. Attendance cost $250,000 a head. Photo: Getty
Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index recently estimated Warren’s net worth at around $8.27bn.
According to planning documents, seen by the Sunday Independent, Rosebrack hopes the micro-distillery will become a “legacy project” for the Castletown Cox Estate, which dates back to 1767.
The project will include the restoration, conservation and refurbishment of six existing farm outbuildings.
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The micro-distillery will include a malthouse, brew house, still house, staff facilities, malt store and a bonded cask storage area located in a group of protected structures on the Castletown Cox Estate.
“It is intended that Castletown Cox distillery will revive the art of traditional whiskey making contributing to the heritage legacy of Castletown Cox Estate,” planning documents said.
Planning documents said the company and estate does not intend to sell spirits commercially ‘at this stage’
Forsyths, a Scottish distillation equipment manufacturer, has designed bespoke kit for the proposed distillery, according to the planning documents.
Planners for the project also said Dr Jack O’Shea, who has distilled for the likes of Pearse Lyons Distillery in Dublin, has been involved in designing the distilling process for the estate.
The distiller will also look to produce its whiskey using barley grown, harvested and malted on site, before being triple-distilled in the proposed still house and casked in oak barrels.
The documents claim Castletown Cox would become “the only distillery in Ireland where every step of the process from barley to bottle will be carried out on the same site”.
Rosebrack hopes the distillery will become a ‘legacy project’ for the estate, which dates back to 1767
Warren co-founded Energy Transfer in 1996, which began as a small intrastate natural gas pipeline operator before growing into one of the largest energy companies listed in the US.
Warren’s Energy Transfer business had revenue of over $82.6bn last year. The company owns and operates one of the largest and most diversified portfolios of energy assets in the US, with approximately 140,000 miles of pipeline and associated energy infrastructure.
Energy Transfer’s network spans 44 states, with assets in all of the major US oil and gas production basins.
Last year, Warren co-hosted a fundraiser for US President Donald Trump, before the elections. Attendance cost $250,000 a head.
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