By Gavin Daly http://www.sbpost.ie
Slane Castle is set to become a destination for whiskey lovers as well as concertgoers, under plans by the Mountcharles family to ‘‘secure the future’’ of the Co Meath estate.

The family is about to launch a premium brand Slane Castle whiskey in the US, and has plans to create an information and tasting centre at the castle.

Alex Mountcharles, who has assumed the title of Lord Mountcharles from his father, Henry, said the intention was to ‘‘build additional business’’ at the 1,500-acre estate, which is best known for its annual rock concerts.

Mountcharles said that the idea for the whiskey originated about two years ago, and the first consignment of 1,000 cases had just been made by the nearby Cooley distillery.

Most of that batch is bound for the east coast of the US, although some will be sold locally.

‘‘We wanted a product that we were interested in, a quality product that we could believe in and stand over,” said Mountcharles.

The first Slane product is a blended whiskey, but there are plans for an aged single malt and other products in the future. ‘‘The idea is to secure the future of the estate, which is hugely expensive to run,” said Mountcharles. ‘‘It is a bit of a money-pit, but it does at least wash its face financially. We choose our events very carefully, and our costs are carefully managed.”

Slane plays host to Mancunian rockers Oasis on Saturday, and Mountcharles said that preparations were well advanced to receive the 80,000 concert-goers. ‘‘There are a substantial number of people on the site, and we are investing in extra infrastructure, including a new roadway,” he said.

However, Mountcharles would not be drawn on the finances of the concert. ‘‘The deal is always complicated, because different artists and different companies have different agendas. The nature of the business is that there are a smaller number of operators on the world stage, so we are dealing with global entities,” he said.

A limited number of general tickets and ‘garden party’ packages is still available for the Oasis concert, from the castle or from Ticketmaster.

These packages include reserved parking, grandstand seating and access to restaurants, a bar and cloakroom.

‘‘Once we have Oasis out of the way, we’ll have a big party, a sigh of relief and then it’s straight into building for the launch of the whiskey in the US,” said Mountcharles.

He described Slane as a ‘‘true family business’’, which has been built up over the past 30 years by his father, Henry, whose title now is the 8th Marquess Conyngham.