![]() Ireland’s traditionally smoother fare acquired a reputation for blandness.īy the 1980s, Ireland had only two distilleries producing a tiny fraction of Scotland’s output. Scottish whisky – which omits the “e” – filled the gap with peatier, darker offerings. However, they shunned innovation – such as a new type of pot still – and shrivelled during US prohibition, and Ireland’s trade war with Britain in the 1930s. By the 19th century a cluster of producers in Dublin’s Liberties district supplied much of the world. There is a reference to the drink in the Red Book of Ossory, a medieval manuscript produced in County Kilkenny in the 14th century.Īt one point, Ireland had more than 1,000 distilleries. Ireland claims – as do other countries – to be the home of whiskey. Photograph: Sam HunterĮxports to Russia, the second biggest market, have halted, and the UK’s dispute with the EU over Northern Ireland could cause disruption, but the future is bright, said Lavelle. William Lavelle of the Irish Whiskey Association. The ambition and strategy came together.” “There wasn’t a light-switch moment and suddenly Irish whiskey became in vogue again,” said William Lavelle, the director of the Irish Whiskey Association. Popular culture flagged Irish whiskey’s revival a decade ago when the Jameson brand appeared in songs by Rihanna and Lady Gaga and in the TV shows Mad Men and South Park. The former mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor launched a brand in 2018. “Not any more.”Ĭelebrities have launched their own Irish whiskey brands, with the stars of the US sitcom It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia this week debuting a 15-year-old single malt to celebrate the show’s 15th season. “The UK used to be a graveyard for Irish whiskey,” said John Teeling. It would also underscore an ambition to challenge scotch’s enduring dominance elsewhere, including Britain. For Ireland’s distillers, overtaking scotch in the US would be a psychological boost and rectify a century-old fiasco in the world’s biggest market. Last month, the Irish government launched a €750,000 “spirit of Ireland” campaign to promote Irish products in US bars and liquor stores. From just four operational distilleries in 2010, there are now 42 on the island of Ireland. Japanese brands, too, have exploded in popularity, earning $340m in sales last year. It’s a bigger game now – the worldwide whiskey market has hovered at $80bn over the past decade but is projected to jump to more than $100bn by 2024, according to the consumer data company Statista. “We’re still only playing catch-up after decades of underperformance when scotch basically stole our breakfast,” said Jack Teeling, John’s son and the managing director of Teeling Whiskey. Globally, however, sales of scotch, at 1.3bn bottles, still dwarf its Irish rival, which sells 190m bottles. If the trend continues, Irish whiskey sales in the US – currently 5.9m cases – will overtake scotch, which has plateaued at about 8m cases, by 2030. Growth in the US has been especially strong, rising 16% last year to a record $1.3bn, according to the Distilled Spirits Council. Annual global sales have surged from 5m cases (60m bottles) in 2010 to 14m cases (168m bottles) last year, fuelled by new offerings and younger drinkers. There’ll be a huge party when that happens.”Īfter decades of quiet woe, Irish whiskey is roaring back. Then he smiled: “But I think we’ll overtake the Scots by the end of the decade. “We fell from 60% to 2% in the US, that’s some trick,” said John Teeling, a doyen of Irish whiskey producers. ![]()
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