ABOUT

When Jameson Irish Whiskey needed an immersive space to celebrate their making process, we gave them The Live Cooperage. An experiential pop-up environment that brings to life the extraordinary story of how wood influences the flavour of whiskey and the stunning skill of the Master Cooper at the Midleton Distillery in County Cork, Ireland, where Jameson is made. The theatre of the Live Cooperage puts the craftsman at the heart of the action and explores the integrity of an age-old process in an engaging and entertaining way.
It first launched at the Northside Festival in Brooklyn, New York – a niche discovery festival that attracts bands, entrepreneurs, filmmakers, innovators and over 80,000 fans for a snapshot of ‘what’s next’ in music, film, entrepreneurship and art.
The invitation-only launch event – created in a converted warehouse called Villain in Williamsburg – was aimed at a professional audience of influential bartenders, VIPs and media.
On entry, visitors are greeted by an impressive display of deconstructed barrel chandeliers. A bespoke sampling bar offers a sample of Jameson against a backdrop of black and white photography and original coopers’ tools – a direct reference to the brand’s origins in Ireland. Information panels, crafted from massive timber boards, provide an explanation of both the maturation process and the provenance of the barrels used to mature Jameson.
And, acting as a climax to the evening, Midleton Distillery’s fifth Generation Master Copper, Ger Buckley, expertly deconstructs and reconstructs a barrel, with all the ease of his forty plus years of experience. The stage is an accurate recreation of the cooper's workshop and behind him is projected a specially produced AV, showing him at work at the actual cooperage in Ireland.
More than 3,500 invitation-only guests attended the event over five days, smashing the target of 2,500. Among the attendees were key target media such as Cool Hunter.