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News
Beam buys ex-Cooley supply whiskey
Beam Global has bought one of the Irish whiskey brands once supplied by the Cooley Distillery it took over last year.
2 Gingers Irish Whiskey will be given a US roll-out
The US-based drinks group has announced the acquisition of 2 Gingers, a twice-distilled Irish whiskey launched by businessman Kieran Folliard in Minnesota, US, in 2011.
Created using whiskey supplied by Cooley, 2 Gingers has become the fastest growing Irish whiskey in Minnesota – currently the only place it is distributed.
Following its buyout of Cooley in December 2011, Beam terminated all existing contracts the distillery held to supply third party brands, although those few with longer supply contracts are still being honoured.
At the time, Beam said the termination of its supply contracts was part of a strategic review of the business to concentrate on Cooley’s four core brands: Kilbeggan, Tyrconnell, Connemara and Greenore.
2 Gingers, named so after Folliard’s mother and sister, is the only third party brand supplied by Cooley to be bought by Beam, so far. It’s thought its impressive, unreleased, growth figures for the last year are what nudged Beam into making an offer for the brand.
In addition, the group has appointed Folliard as chief operating officer of 2 Gingers and chief US ambassador of Kilbeggan Distilling Company, to help with a nationwide roll-out of 2 Gingers.
“Earlier this year, we entered the fast growing Irish whiskey category with the acquisition of our flagship Kilbeggan brand,” said Chris Bauder, general manager of whiskey for Beam. “And now we’re taking another step forward to expand our Irish Whiskey business in the US with the addition of Kieran Folliard and 2 Gingers to our Beam Irish whiskey family. We couldn’t be more pleased to have Kieran and his fast growing 2 Gingers brand on board.”
In his new role, Folliard will promote and drive growth for all of Beam’s Irish whiskey portfolio, including 2 Gingers, across the US, as well as market the Kilbeggan Distillery and Visitor Centre in Westmeath, Co. Louth, to the brand’s US customer base.