THE MEN behind the Porterhouse craft brewery are turning their attention to the whiskey market. Oliver Hughes and Liam LaHart have teamed up with Kerry businessman Jerry O’Sullivan to establish Dingle Whiskey Distillery.

They are in the process of raising €800,000 via a Business Expansion Scheme (BES) to fund part of the €2.9 million development.

The directors are putting €900,000 of their own funds into the project, which will also receive grant aid of €400,000. The balance – a further €800,000 – is being raised from “founding fathers” – investors who will have access to the distillery and ownership of their own customised whiskey.

The promoters of the new distillery are clearly targeting the US market and plan a visitor centre once the distillery is producing whiskey. In the early days, the directors hope to deliver revenue off the back of a Dingle cream liqueur.

There are currently three distilleries operating in Ireland: Bushmills, Midleton and Cooley, with the first two owned by Diageo and Irish Distillers.

Mr Hughes said Irish whiskey accounted for just 2 per cent of the world market but claimed interest in artisan whiskeys had been growing strongly in recent years.

The dominance of the Scottish whisky market is illustrated by the fact that the stills for the new venture are coming from there.

The company is projecting sales of €1.3 million by 2014 and hopes to be profitable from 2012, although much of the profit is expected to come from the visitor centre during the term of the BES.

The minimum investment in the scheme is €10,000 and each application is subject to a 3 per cent fee.

The promoters hope to close the BES by the end of the year, in which case investors will be able to claim relief from this year.