CONECUH BRANDS RETURNS J. & J. MCCONNELL’S IRISH WHISKY TO THE UNITED STATES and CANADA
Roy Danis, President & C.E.O. of Conecuh Brands, LLC, proudly announces that after 90 years, Conecuh Brands is returning McConnell’s Irish Whisky to North America. “We’re resurrecting one of the greatest global brands of all time, McConnell’s Irish Whisky”. Originally established in Belfast, Ireland in 1776 by two brothers, John & James McConnell; McConnell’s is the oldest whisky brand ever to come from Ireland.
McConnell’s enjoyed great popularity in the U.S. from the late 1800’s right through the early part of the 20th Century, when McConnell’s, like many Irish Distilleries ran into hard times as a result of U.S. Prohibition. Ultimately closing its Belfast Distillery in 1958, the brand went dormant, until now recovered by Conecuh Brands.
“The opportunity to recreate a brand with such rich and deep history has been incredibly rewarding. My entire team is so excited and humbled at the same time.”, noted Danis.
The brand worked with Great Northern Distillery to recreate the whisky, while work is being done on its new distillery, in the historic, Crumlin Road Jail, in Belfast, Ireland. The Crumlin Rd. Jail is not far from the original distillery site on Cromac St. The “Crum” is well known for housing political prisoners from the 1840’s to 1996, before being converted into an iconic tourist attraction. Once the building is complete, the new distillery will house production, aging, a visitors’ center and a retail area.