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GOOD NEWS FOR whiskey drinkers – the sector is going to get bigger and bigger in Ireland.
Today sees the launch of the Irish Whiskey Association and the news that the Irish whiskey sector is set to invest €1 billion in Ireland over the next 10 years.
Minister Simon Coveney said that exports are to double by 2020 and double again by 2030, and that 15 new distilleries are in development across Ireland.
Irish Whiskey Association
The Irish Whiskey Association (IW) is set to invest over €1 billion in Ireland in the next 10 years.
Coveney explained that with over 15 new distilleries currently being developed across the country, the new association will bring together all companies to promote Irish whiskey and “to ensure the product is given vital protection going forward”.
The association said today that:
Peter Morehead, Chairman of the Irish Whiskey Association and Production Director at Irish Distillers said: “Last year, our companies exported 6.2 million 9-litre cases worldwide; we expect that number to double to 12 million cases by 2020 and double again to 24 million cases by 2030.”
I’ll never understand why Scotch whisky is such a gold mine for Scotland, and Irish whiskey barely makes a ripple overseas. You would think that because so many Irish are spread all over the world, their whiskey would be number 1.
As fair as I know there were dozens of Irish whiskey distilleries in the 19th century but London but a stop to exporting Irish whiskey in favour of Scottish whisky some time around the early 20th century. Most of the Irish distilleries closed while the Scottish ones went from strength to strength.
Maybe someone can expand on this?
I recently tried a new Irish whiskey called Muldoons & honestly it’s one of the nicest drinks I’ve ever drunk. It was a whiskey/Caramel mix but it worked perfectly. I’d highly recommend it to any whiskey fans.
P.S. I have no connection to this company. Honestly.
Lost access to the UK and commenwealth markets in economic war. Couldn’t be smuggled through Canada to the US during prohibition.
Dreck from the Caribbean got labelled Irish whiskey during prohibition which ruined the brand. GI’s got a taste for Scotch whisky during their time in the UK during WW2.
Irish industry just died off, didn’t have the money to invest in global marketing and distribution. Only recovered really when bought by the big international companies who had the marketing and distribution abilities.
I hadnt heard that story. What I heard was that before the 20′s Irish whisky was very popular and USA was the biggest market. Once booze was banned the bootleggers were cooking up “Irish whisky” and it was terrible.
Once the ban was lifted people moved to Scotch as Irish had such a bad rep.
And then with WW2, the US troops in the UK would have had access to scotch whisky more than Irish.
That was raw alcohol, it couldn’t have been Irish whisky because it wasn’t allowed 4 years to mature
Irish Whiskey was the only show in town 120 years ago.
- Prohibition
- Inferior swill labelled as Irish Whiskey in that era hurt it’s reputation (even the Scots were doing this during the 19th century)
- Anglo Irish trade war
- Scottish distillers buying up Irish distilleries and closing them down
- An Irish government who inexplicably let the industry die on it’s arse
- Domestic tastes had turned to beer and stout during the 19th century
Also,how often do you hear the word “Whiskey” used in movies or television? It is almost always “Scotch”.That’s not an accident,i think there is some sort of arrangement there.Maybe someone else knows more?
We were left with only 2 or 3 big players still standing by the 1950′s and the stuff they make is good,but it’s not great.
Cooley distillery revived a lot of the old Irish brands since they opened in the 1980′s.We have started to see a lot of highly rated premium whiskey coming out of there,let’s hope Jim Beam doesn’t ruin it.
Thats the point – it wasn’t real Irish whisky. It was cooked up, fake Irish whisky.
It was using the name Irish whisky & in turn destroyed the name in the American market, so the Americans turned to Scotch.
Love Whiskey, I’m so happy I’m damaging my liver to further this noble industry :)
There are two probable reasons for this, the British stopped promoting Irish whiskey from the 1920s and pushed Scorch instead. Dev allowed the Catholic Church have their way and screwed the. Irish whiskey export industry
Pretty sure Jameson is the top selling whiskey worldwide. It’s popularity is apparently why jack Daniels invested in an Irish distillery.
That’s because of McNulty in the wire.
With scotch whiskey exports worldwide valued at £4.27 billion stg last year,and Irish whiskey exports at just €350 million euro,theres quite a lot of catching up to do,Irish whiskey is still a big seller in the US,but at almost every public function scotch puts it in the shade,with such a vast immigrant population Ireland should be doing much better.
I know it’s going to sound ridiculous but I think the name does it no favours! Scotch sounds classy and resonates well with people who think of themselves as connoisseur’s of the finer spirts, whiskey on the other hand sounds like a name for something that one might find a homeless person drinking under a bridge. Perhaps a re-branding of the Irish whiskeys with a more premium name would serve the industry well.
Indeed. Scotchy scotch scotch. Down in ma belly.
Scotch is only a marketing term, an old and very successful one. In modern China Irish Whiskey is becoming the drink of the urbane and successful.
The word whisky doesn’t look right .. whereas whiskey .. now you’re talking.
A nice tot of a Jameson special reserve… Pure indulgence.
I even bought a Jameson glass when I visited , It’s now nicknamed “the chalice”
great to see this.
A huge asset to our food & drinks industry. Also a big plus for our tourism industry.
Have just heard that the ‘Tullamore Dew’ label are building a new distillery, with a heritage & visitor centre just outside Tullamore, Co Offaly – to open in August of this year.
I am not much of a whiskey drinker, but this is a product that requires a huge amount of skill and craftsmanship.
Irish whiskey is now becoming known around the world, as a quality product.
Irish distillers are gonna invest massively in Paddy and Powers too so thy can become as big as Jameson.
Whiskey is not something that you can produce overnight. It takes at least four years to have a whiskey ready to bottle after distilling, so where is all of the extra capacity going to come from without investment into the industry and a good many start up’s around the country.
Chris, I don’t know about investment nationally but Irish Distillers in Midleton have more than doubled their production capacity in recent years.
Have a g&t while the whiskey matures. ..
If they dropped the price and more would buy it….
The taxes have really bloated the cost of whiskey lately. A bottle of redbreast used to go for 45 Euro, now it goes for as much as 75 Euro regularly. This happened overnight last winter. Disgraceful.
A 700ml bottle of Jameson goes for 20 euro here in south Korea. I’d be curious how much that would cost in Ireland.
That’s great………..more piss and vomit on the street!
Another leap in Liver disease – 10 years time!
Slainte………me arse!
Pretty sure the pissheads don’t buy Middleton 18 years old to vomit on the streets of temple bar. Whiskey is great and can be consumed much more sensibly than wine/ beer/ cocktails.
There’s a statement of a purveyor & or connoisseur!
Where does it say, Middleton?
I buy about 6 1L bottles a year and must say I prefer scotch (something I get bantered for a lot)
A lot of Scotch is like licking burnt turf.
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