Quintessential Brands (QB) has told TRBusiness it intends to exploit traveller demand for age statement Irish whiskeys through new expressions in The Dublin Liberties range.

The international spirits group will showcase three single malt additions to the portfolio with Aer Rianta International (ARI) at Dublin Airport Terminal 2 under an exclusive three-month agreement, effective 1 April.

The 13-year-old Murder Lane, 16-year-old Keepers Coin and super-premium 27-year- old King of Hell (€2,000) join existing 5-year-old Oak Devil and 10-year old Copper Alley Liberties’ brands on-shelf at the airport, which is expected to roll out further single cask offerings exclusive to ARI moving forward.

“They are all really relevant to travel retail,” Oliver Storrie, Global Travel Retail Manager, QB told TRBusiness prior to the grand launch of The Dublin Liberties Distillery in Dublin last night (20 February).

DOUBLING IRISH WHISKEY’S SHARE

“The price ladder created is fantastic as it does not exclude the passenger, no matter what your disposable income is, whether it is Old Devil at just over €40, or where money is not an object, such as the 27-year old King of Hell.

“We’re now offering a premium range that the passenger is looking for and that is where the market is going. Irish whiskey is the fastest growing category in travel retail at the moment and we are definitely trying to dominate that age statement space.

“You can lean on Irish whiskey consumers who know it, but when you have a passenger, they need key cues.”

Storrie tells TRBusiness that the Group’s plan is to double the share of QB’s Irish whiskey portfolio in travel retail from 10% to around 30%.

Unsurprisingly, QB is continuing Irish whiskey’s push in the sector by continuing to forge strong relationships with the likes of ARI and Lagardère Travel Retail in Europe, and with DFA and the cruise operators in the US.

Driving that will be a 2-3% increase in campaign activity with key operators this year, supported by ambassadors and tasting events.

“Those need to be supported by smaller, ad-hoc, on-floor tastings at a more localised level that catches a much wider net, with a very well-developed training mechanism,” explained Storrie.”

He had previously told TRBusiness that consumption of premium and super-

premium Irish whiskeys has grown by 12% in the past five years (Source: IWSR) and it remains the third largest spirits category in the channel.

Asked whether Irish whiskey can rival and even outpace growth witnessed in other whisk(e)y channels, including Scotch, Storrie said: “You’ve seen the growth in Japanese whisky.

“Irish whiskey is a very good gateway into whiskey due to its three distillation method in single malts, and it is a category that can and needs to be developed on. Will it dominate? Probably not, but it certainly has a role to play.”

Interestingly, Storrie says QB’s Irish whiskey portfolio has grown by a reported 1000% in three years in value and sales terms.

DISTILLERY OPENING

TRBusiness was among a select group of media invited to the official opening of The Dublin Liberties Distillery.

In a statement, QB hails the launch as  ‘a new era’ for Irish whiskey, where brands such as The Dubliner and The Dublin Liberties Whiskey are starting production under the expert tutelage of Master Distiller and Director of Irish Whiskey Darryl McNally.

A €28m total investment into The Dublin Liberties Distillery and visitor experience in Old Mill Street nestled in the heart of Dublin’s historic Liberties district is a further tribute to Irish whiskey’s rich tradition and growing international appeal.

Alongside the state-of-the art facility, visitors to the site on Old Mill Street will encounter a cocktail bar and immersive visitor centre (open to the public from Monday 25 February) offering daily guided tours that throws further spotlight on a burgeoning Irish whiskey tourism sector.

Since beginning in global travel retail in 2015/16 with three ferry listings, QB has gone on to grow eight brands listed across 74 ferries and 45 cruise ships serving more than 45m passengers per year.

Today, it boasts a presence with seven of the top 10 leading global travel retailers.

EXCLUSIVE TOUR

The Dublin Liberties Distillery joins a string of others in Dublin (Teeling, Pearce Lyons and the soon-to-be opened Roe & Co.), with a further 22 planned to launch across Ireland that will bring the country’s total distillery footprint to 44.

According to QB, there were than one million visitors to Irish distilleries and whiskey experiences in 2018 and TRBusiness was able to trial the latest development on Dublin’s distilling scene via an exclusive ‘pre-tour’ of the distillery before the grand launch event.

A complete renovation of the building, which has occupied the site for 400 years, succeeded in preserving its original façade and architecture.

At its heart is a unique natural spring located 30 metres below the building that fuels a distilling and fermentation process that twins traditional practices with modern technology.

“It’s all about provenance, quality and knowing what the best ingredients are,” McNally said in any introductory briefing to the media, which graduated to a tour of the distillation and fermentation areas of the site.

The distillery’s production capacity is up to 700,000 litres of triple-distilled malt per year. This is focused on triple-distilled single malts only, although McNally reveals there are plans to produce some double-distilled variants.

The facility possesses two tonne mashing and triple distillation capabilities with the capacity for 10,000 litres in first still and 6,000 litres in second and third still.

Alongside the water naturally drawn from its own well, the distillery also sources all its malt from Irish farmers.

The Dubliner and Dublin Liberties brands are currently sold in more than 30 markets worldwide with case sales exceeding 37,000 (9-litres) in 2018, although the ambition is to sell upwards of 50,000 cases globally in the coming year.

Leading spirits and liqueurs producer Stock Spirits owns a 25% stake in The Dublin Liberties Distillery and its brands after an acquisition in July 2017.