Tullamore D.E.W. Opens Working Cooperage For The First Time In 66 Years, Hiring Two Apprentices

With only a handful of qualified coopers across the nation, Tullamore D.E.W. is offering its new recruits a unique opportunity in their state of the art distillery in Tullamore, Co. Offaly.

Tullamore D.E.W. has recruited two local apprentice coopers, Dylan Healion and Corey Bracken, to their distillery team in Co. Offaly. The role of a cooper is rare in Ireland with only five qualified coopers and four apprentice coopers across a nation with 38 distilleries. Both recruits, hailing from county Offaly, were offered this unique opportunity as they reflected an appreciation for the heritage, knowledge and skills required to keep this age-old tradition alive.

Both apprentices will train for four years under the expert guidance of Enguerrand Vandenbossche, a French cooper with nearly 10 years’ experience in the industry and the current Head Cooper at the Tullamore distillery.

As much as 80% of the character of an Irish whiskey comes from the cask which means coopers are central to the process.

On a daily basis, each cooper will repair in the region of 23 barrels. In addition to cask repairs, the coopers will be active in the innovation space, creating specialist casks to support Tullamore D.E.W.’s premium blends. The apprentice will receive their qualification under the National Cooper Federation, an internationally recognised body that monitors excellence within the industry.

Tullamore D.E.W. strive to be masters of their process end to end and reignite this ancient craft tradition in Ireland. The current Head Cooper, Enguerrand, has worked in the Cognac and Champagne industry resulting in him acquiring a rich experience in high end premium drink production.

Quality and precision are at the heart of each stage of the Tullamore D.E.W. production process and so the distillery team and the brand are delighted to have Enguerrand training the next generation of coopers at the Tullamore Distillery.

Speaking about the hire, Enguerrand Vandenbossche, Head Cooper at Tullamore D.E.W. said:

“I look forward to the next four years of apprenticeship with Dylan and Corey, teaching them all about this unique craft and getting the best out of them. This is all about creating a legacy within Tullamore D.E.W., training new coopers who will later train other younger coopers and so on.”

He continued;

“Coopers are one of the key pillars in a distillery, repairing unfillable barrels and reducing maturation loss by improving the overall cask management. The role is about attitude, a desire to do better, to innovate and to maintain high standards in order to get the best out of the casks. My duty as ‘Journeyman’ is to turn these two young men into fully trained coopers in four years, it is not a simple task but I am very confident they will make it and we will all be very proud at the end of this historic journey for Tullamore D.E.W.”

Tullamore DEW is the second largest selling Irish whiskey brand globally. The signature liquid is a blend of three great whiskeys from Ireland. The people at Tullamore DEW believe that what’s true of the liquid is also true of humanity and so aim to champion the power of blend in whiskey, culture and society.

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