Walsh Whiskey invests €500,000 in The Irishman rebrand

Ireland-based Walsh Whiskey has given its super-premium single malt brand The Irishman a €500,000 (US$564,400) revamp.

Following Amber Beverage Group’s acquisition of Walsh Whiskey last year, the Irish producer has redesigned the bottles, labelling and packaging for The Irishman, its single malt-led whiskey range.

The move is part of Walsh Whiskey’s ambitions to double sales of The Irishman across more than 50 markets in the next five years.

“As the Irish whiskey category continues to develop with increasing variety, it is important that we are clear in our proposition to whiskey consumers,” said the firm’s founder, Bernard Walsh.

“Our message is simple: The Irishman will always be single malt focused – whether championed in pure expressions or blends – and that it will always be triple distilled to leave a lasting impression.”

The new look, created by London design agency Here, features a tall, tapered bottle, a cork seal and ‘strong whiskey cues’ including a tapered base and broad ‘shoulders’. The lower part of the bottle is embossed with phrases that underscore The Irishman’s brand messaging.

Walsh Whiskey has also given The Irishman a new brand icon – a capital letter ‘I’ within two barrel staves. Its label and packaging has been updated to include braille writing, and e-labels have been added to communicate nutritional information as part of Spirits Europe’s U-Label initiative.

The rebranded range launches in Ireland today (3 February), and will be released in Europe and Canada in April. It will roll out in the US during the summer, and will reach the rest of the world in the second half of 2022.

Core range changes

As part of the rebrand, The Irishman Founder’s Reserve, a blend of 70% single malt and 30% pot still whiskey, has been renamed The Harvest. The new name is said to celebrate the role of the farming community in whiskey making.

Meanwhile, The Irishman Caribbean Cask has joined the brand’s core range after its initial release as a limited edition bottling in 2018. The expression is a vatting of single malt and single pot still whiskeys that have been finished in Chairman’s Reserve Rum casks for six months.

In addition to Founder’s Reserve and Caribbean Cask, The Irishman portfolio includes the core expressions Single Malt, 12-Year-Old Single Malt, 17-Year-Old Single Malt and The Vintage Cask. The producer has also released a number of limited edition whiskeys.

“We respect and honour Ireland’s great distilling heritage, while also exploring exciting new innovations through the use of rare and unusual woods and finishes, as well as cereal varieties, to influence the single malt spirit,” said Walsh.

“To date this has seen us work with Florio Marsala, oloroso Sherry, Caribbean rum and Irish peated red ale [casks]. In the generational pursuit of whiskey excellence, our quest for the perfect dram, or taoscán of single malt, is just beginning.”