Drinkers can toast 200 years of Dublin’s Palace Bar with a vintage whiskey launched this week to mark the famous pub’s bicentenary.
Drinks giant Diageo’s Roe & Co Irish whiskey has joined forces with the bar’s owner, Willie Aherne, to develop the brand’s first-ever “bespoke” release, which will be available in the pub from this month.
The company is making just 276 bottles of the special edition 15-year-old whiskey to mark the pub’s 200th birthday, which it celebrated just weeks ago.
The whiskey was initially aged in American oak bourbon barrels, beginning on June 2nd 2008. In July 2021 it was filled into casks that held sauternes wine, to give it a special finish, according to Diageo.
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The whiskey is priced at €320 a-bottle or €32 for a single serving and is only available from The Palace.
Hilary Quinn, Diageo Ireland’s marketing director, said the company was “thrilled” that Roe & Co’s first customer collaboration was with the Dublin pub, well known as a whiskey bar.
Mr Aherne declared that The Palace was delighted to work with Roe & Co to agree on the 15-year-old whiskey.
“It is a bold expression, encompassing the best of Roe & Co in a bottle, and I look forward to our customers enjoying it with family and friends,” he said.
Named to pay tribute to an original Dublin distillery, Diageo launched Roe & Co almost seven years ago to meet growing demand for Irish whiskey, initially sourcing the spirit from producers around the country.
The drinks giant said it was backing the new brand with a €25 million investment.
Opened by John Stafford in 1823, The Palace is one of Dublin’s best-known pubs and one of the city’s oldest businesses.
