Interview with John Teeling of Cooley Distillery

Following on from Monday's story about the sale of Clontarf-based, Cooley Whiskey to the Beam drinks company, we managed to catch up with John Teeling yesterday for an interview on ClontarfTV. (View interview here)

John talks about the decline and rebirth of Irish whiskey and the history of its production in Ireland. For lovers of brown spirits, he explains the difference between how Scotch, US and Irish whiskeys are matured and argues that Ireland is the one true location for whiskey distillation.

Both John's involvement with Cooley and that of his sons, Jack and Stephen are also covered and he outlines the immediate future for the Cooley brands and how he believes they will continue to prosper under the stewardship of the Beam drinks group who themselves are whiskey specialists with worldwide distribution capacity.

John refers to the latest recession as being "different to any other recession" and predicts some further setbacks before we come out the other side.

Finally, John talks about his love of Clontarf, his involvement with the local rugby and cricket clubs and his support for local businesses.