One of Scotland’s most experienced distillers has been poached by an Irish whiskey producer.
Graham Coull moves in October from his job as Distillery Manager and Master Distiller at Glen Moray on Speyside after 14 years to take up the reins at the Dingle Distillery in County Kerry.
He beat applicants from across Europe and as far as Australia apply for the position of master distiller.
Coull began his career as a brewer at Webster’s Brewery in Halifax and in 1994 began working as bottling manager at William Grant & Sons before becoming Distillation Manager for Glenfiddich, Balvenie and Kinivie Distilleries.
He leaves his most recent role as Distillery Manager and Master Distiller at Glen Moray where he held a 14-year tenure, during which time he managed the expansion of the distillery and developed its range of whiskies.
Arriving at the Dingle Distillery, where he will oversee production of small batch whiskey releases, Dingle Gin and Dingle Distillery Vodka, will mark his 25th anniversary in the whisky industry.
He said: “Becoming the Distillery Manager and Master Distiller at The Dingle Distillery is an ideal opportunity for me to continue my passion for creating whiskies. I’m extremely impressed with the quality of the maturing spirit at Dingle and welcome the challenge of distilling in Dingle’s unique maturation conditions to craft the next small batch releases of Irish whiskey.
“I’m looking forward to really exploring the similarities and differences between Scotch and Irish whiskey, comparing and contrasting the different styles and bringing my experience to develop the new expressions and releases. There are definitely exciting times ahead .”
Elliot Hughes, partner at The Dingle Distillery, comments: “On behalf of The Dingle Distillery, I am absolutely delighted to welcome Graham. I know our ever-expanding team in Dingle are looking forward to having him on board and learning from his wealth of experience acquired from over 2 decades working with whisky. We are all eagerly anticipating the next chapter of the Distillery and working alongside Graham on the continued development of our Single Malt and Pot Still whiskies as well as our Gin and Vodka.”
