Comments on: Will 2008 be a “breakout” year for Irish whiskey?

By: Patrick Scanlan

Patrick Scanlan — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:13:29 +0000

Hola Esteemed Whiskey Catadors,
To give you an idea of the come back of Irish Whiskey here in Spain.Seven years ago i opened my Irish bar Scanlan´s Tavern Gernika,specializing in Irish Whiskey,i now only stock Irish as that is what my customers want with Jameson being the house dram and Connemara being my signature Malt.I have since created what i believe to be the worlds largest”Pub”collection of Irish Malt Whiskie´s(150 approx).I am just one of many business around the world proving the Quality and saleability of Irish Malt Whiskey.Adios y Slainte !!

By: John Hansell

John Hansell — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 03:06:02 +0000

Noel, Marty,

It will be an honor to have both of you sharing your Irish whiskey knowledge with us. The time is right. — John

By: Martin Duffy

Martin Duffy — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 01:27:50 +0000

Greetings John!

I am also happy that we at Diageo will be celebrating Bushmills’ anniversary this year with a Master Class of the three single malts, as well as the Original, Black Bush and featuring the 1608 for the crowds at Whiskeyfest Chicago! Looking forward to seeing you then!

By: Noel Sweeney

Noel Sweeney — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 13:09:05 +0000

Hi John, for a whiskey enthuiast like me its great to see the category expand, and I am looking forward to presenting our range at a Master Class at Whiskey fest in San Francisco in October 08.

By: John Hansell

John Hansell — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 22:14:07 +0000

I just heard from the brand manager for Cooley whiskeys and she informed me that the price of the Tyrconnell wood finish whiskeys will be about $70. Money well spent.

By: John Hansell

John Hansell — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:59:38 +0000

Thanks Wayne. It’s always nice to hear a Pernod perspective. And you have a good point. I was thinking of new brand line extension rather than growth.

No doubt your new Jameson Rarest Vintage Reserve will help to keep the momentum going.

By: Wayne Hartunian

Wayne Hartunian — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:45:47 +0000

John, yes it has evolved into a very dynamic category and it is exciting to see all of the activity.

Personally, I think Irish Whiskey has been having some “consecutive breakout years” as it continues to be far and away the fastest growing spirits category in the U.S., which clearly signals that popularity with consumers is growing at a fast pace.

By: John Hansell

John Hansell — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 19:47:57 +0000

Thanks Jack for the update. 21 years old. How time flies!

By: Jack Teeling

Jack Teeling — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 19:44:07 +0000

Thanks John for your entry on Irish whiskey.

The US market is now officially the largest market in the world for Irish whiskey. However Irish whiskey still only accounts for a very small percentage of the overall whiskey market giving itself plenty of room for further growth.

What has been lacking in the Irish whiskey segment has been choice. Cooley, as the only Independent Irish whiskey distillery, has been focusing on creating unique offerings within the segment to give consumers more choice but also to revive old Irish distilling techniques that were no longer in use. An example of this has been the re-introduction of Peat in the distilling process for our Connemara range of whiskeys (Reg, Cask Strength and 12 Year Old) as well as the Greenore range of Single Grain Irish whiskeys that will be launched in the US in 2008.

We are very excited by the trade and consumer reaction to our experimental Tyrconnell Single Malt Wood Finishes. Jim Murray choose the Madeira Finish as the “Best Irish Whiskey” in his 2008 Whiskey Bible and the internet whiskey community of http://www.maltmaniacs.com choose our Tyrconnell Sherry Finish as the “Best Irish Whiskey” in their 2007 Awards.

2008 is our 21st birthday and we hope that our new whiskeys will give American whiskey consumers a welcome addition to their Irish whiskey collections.