History
History

Royal Oak Distillery's history image 1

Royal Oak Distillery's history

The Royal Oak Distillery was built thanks to the desire of Mr Augusto Reina, CEO of Illva Saronno, to make the perfect whiskey to accompany his family's Disaronno amaretto in a Godfather cocktail.

Mr Reina's quest resulted in his meeting Bernard Walsh and their mutual desire to produce great Irish whiskey led to a joint venture to build the Royal Oak Distillery on a 40-acre site at Royal Oak in Bagenalstown Co Carlow, South East Ireland. The new distillery became operational in March 2016 with the first low wines running on Good Friday followed by the first spirit on Easter Sunday - one hundred years after Dublin's famous Easter Rising.

In 2019 Walsh's involvement ended and Illva Saronno became the sole owner of the Royal Oak Distillery. Sadly, Mr Reina died in February of the following year but not before he had instigated further investment in the distillery to upgrade the column stills to ensure production of the best grain distillate possible as well as other upgrades across the whole distilling process.

The Busker brand of Irish whiskeys made at Royal Oak launched in September 2020 with all four styles of Irish whiskey: Single Grain, Single Pot Still, Single Malt and The Busker Blend.

Royal Oak Distillery's history image 1

Royal Oak Distillery

Status: Operational
Established: 2016
Owner: I.L.L.V.A. Saronno Holding S.p.A.
Capacity: 2,000,000 litres
Visitor Policy: Visitors welcome throughout the year
Tel: +353 59 918 6653
Website: Royal Oak Distillery
Address: Clorusk Lower, Royaloak, County Carlow
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