The Cooley distillery was founded only recently – in 1987 – by John Teeling. They have one wash column and two pot stills. Teeling’s plan was to put the Irish brands back on the map, which led to the purchase of several old brands, including Tyrconnell and Kilbeggan. In 1988, the company also took over Locke’s Distillery, one of the oldest registered distilleries in the world (1757). The last two decades, Cooley has built an ironclad worldwide reputation with their award winning brands Connemara, Greenore, Millars and Kilbeggan. Contrary to most Irish Whiskey distillers, Cooley used double distillation instead of triple. Their Connemara is a peated single malt whiskey, Greenore is a single grain whiskey, Kilbeggan is a blend and Tyrconnell an unpeated single malt whiskey.