Jameson does ‘heavy lifting’ for Irish whiskey

Brendan Buckley, global innovation and prestige whiskeys director at Pernod Ricard-owned Irish Distillers, has called on the “big players” to invest in Irish whiskey to ensure the “boom time” driven by the Jameson brand continues.

Brendan Buckley, Irish Distillers, has called on other multinationals to ‘step up’ in order for the Irish whiskey category to continue to grow

Speaking at the launch of the Redbreast Lustau expression in Jerez last week, Buckley said it is time other drinks producers “stepped up to the plate” in terms of category investment.

“We’re in a boom time for Irish whiskey but I think a lot of analysts would say it’s not necessarily Irish whiskey, it’s been a boom time for Jameson,” he exclusively told The Spirits Business. “Because if you look at the hard numbers, Jameson is still 70%-plus of the market.

“I think we would actually look to the other brand producers out there to continue to invest, continue to build awareness; Jameson’s been doing the heavy lifting in terms of all the marketing that’s bringing people into the category. And look, I’m confident the likes of William Grant and hopefully Cuervo with Bushmills will step up to the plate, as such. We’d like to see the big players continue to invest behind it.”

Buckley praised the newcomers to the Irish whiskey category, saying he was “delighted” by the energy brought to the sector. However he described uncertainty around quality levels as a “potential risk” to the industry”.

“Many may not fully appreciate the payback time [whiskey production] requires; it’s not a quick turnaround business. So there has to be patience and that patience needs to be translated into products. Because we’ve seen in other categories, where, in a quest to make money back, young, potentially not very good quality whisk(e)y has been released to the market.”

He also referenced the work done by IDL over recent decades to bring Irish whiskey to the place it is today, calling on the new entrants to “respect” the company’s history.

“From 1966 [when John Jameson & Son, John Power & Son and the Cork Distilleries Company merged to form Irish Distillers] to now, it’s taken that length of time to get Irish whiskey back on a positive footing, and thankfully we’re now in a very strong place. A lot has been done though a lot of shoe leather and investment, and not just in the quality of products but in the marketing of them, and the newcomers have to respect that.

“We’ve also been key drivers in things like the recent technical file defining Irish whiskey and the quality standards around it. So we are hugely optimistic […] but just make sure quality, quality, quality is kept front of mind, because it would undo things if we had poor quality whiskey coming into the market.”

Irish Distillers launched Redbreast Lustau, a Sherry-forward single pot still expression from the brand, at Bodegas Lustau in Spain last week.