Beverages firm Niche Drinks’ first whiskey distillery planning application has received approval from the Irish Whiskey Association (IWA).

To be located at the Ebrington square in Derry town, the distillery will see an investment of £12m and is expected to commence production in Q1, 2018. It will also include a visitor centre.

Niche Drinks' managing director Ciaran Mulgrew was quoted by The Spirits Business as saying: “This is tremendous news for us as a business and also for the city. We intend to build a top class visitor centre at the distillery, focusing on Derry’s long history as an Irish whiskey-producing city.

“This will be a major attraction for the city and the renewed interest in Irish whiskey and whiskey tourism will give the city a boost.

"We intend to build a top class visitor centre at the distillery, focusing on Derry’s long history as an Irish whiskey-producing city."

“The project has been in the planning stages for quite some time and we can press on now and arrange delivery dates for the stills and other key pieces of equipment. A lot of preparation has been done and we are aiming for first distillations to take place in early 2018.”

The new facility will produce malt whiskey with a total capacity of 500,000l of pure alcohol on an annual basis. Meanwhile, Niche Drinks will continue to manufacture its Irish cream liqueurs.

According to IWA, the Irish whiskey exports have recorded a value of €505m last year, which is reported to be more than 300% increase over the last ten years.