An Irish whisky business owned by the team which successfully revived Bruichladdich Distillery on Islay has fallen into receivership.

Mark Degnan and Daryll McKenna from Interpath were appointed to Spirit of Waterford Distillery Limited as joint receivers after attempts with financial advisors to implement a turnaround plan failed. The business had been facing financial pressures in recent months.

The joint receivers were appointed by HSBC Invoice Finance (UK) Limited at the invitation of the company directors. Distillation at the site at Grattan Quay, Waterford, had ceased prior to the appointment.

A statement from the receivers noted that all 29 staff have been retained until at least the New Year by the joint receivers as they start a formal consultation process and prepare to power down the distillery over the festive season.

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The demise of Spirit of Waterford Distillery comes around 10 years after the site, which was formerly a Guinness brewery owned by Diageo, was taken over by former wine industry executive Mark Reynier and the team who brought Bruichladdich out of mothballs in 2001. The team sold Bruichladdich to French whisky giant Remy Cointreau for £58 million in 2012, having originally acquired the distillery from Whyte & Mackay for £6m.

Spirit of Waterford Distillery trades as the award-winning whisky brand Waterford Whisky and distils using its ‘terroir methodology’ at Grattan Quay. The firm, which was established in 2014, has been distilling at the site since December 2015.

Mr Reynier, founder and chief executive of Waterford Whisky, said: "I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved at the Waterford distillery, the brand we’ve built over the recent, difficult years.

“The people that have helped us on the way, the farmers, maltsters, distillers and warehousemen - and everyone in between - I thank you. Irish agriculture produces the best barley in the world, of that I have no doubt - you can taste it.

"It has been a difficult decision to mothball our processes and seek the appointment of receivers to assist the company stakeholders, but I’m committed to working with the receivers to find a solution that can secure the future of the business and distilling in Waterford. I would like to thank the hard work and dedication of all our staff over the past number of years.”

Speaking to The Herald in December 2014, Mr Reynier explained he had decided to establish a whiskey distillery in Ireland because there was more scope for growth compared with the Scotch whisky market.

He said at the time: “There are only the major distillers in the market, and handful of farm and micro-distilleries, which are all good. The bigger picture is that it is all to play for. A monopoly existed for 35 years so there has not been a great deal of complex innovation or credibility.”

In interviews around the time of his arrival at Waterford, Mr Reynier outlined his vision to create an Irish whiskey based on the wine concept of terroir, which broadly reflects the environmental factors, such as soil and climate, which influence the way grapes are grown and ultimately the wine they produce.